"Réagir à chaud" : Yanick Lahens' quick-response writing in the context of francophone literature

This article examines the placement of Yanick Lahens, a francophone writer who lives in Port-au-Prince, and gets published in France. In a lecture at the Collège de France, Lahens has set herself the task of decolonising the Eurocentric concept of Francophonie. [...] To what extent can quick responding be considered a strategy of francophone writing? Lahens has not only repeatedly taken a stand on events in Haiti but has done so very quickly, publishing in French newspapers and books. The fact that these contributions materialise in France demands more attention. As an author of Haitian origin living in a Creole-dominated society, her French presence points to a transfer driven by inclusion (and exclusion) in the French public sphere and book market. In France, Lahens has the status of a mediator who can speak about everything (but exclusively) that has to do with Haiti. Lahens uses this leap of faith by placing her texts on a postcolonial horizon and entering the field of an ongoing debate around the concept of Francophonie. [...] The French language, like most languages, would no longer belong to one nation, but would become more and more decentralised. However, this decentralisation is accompanied by localisation, as we will see. Lahens uses newsworthy events in Haiti to decolonise and delocalise the Eurocentric concept of Francophonie. Thus, quick response is less about information and more about formation. This thesis is already apparent in the titles of the texts published in France, which always include a reference to Haiti: "Gomorra à la haïtienne" (2008), "Haïti ou la santé du malheur" (2010) and "Haïti n'est ni un cauchemar ni une carte postale" (2021). The three parts of this article elaborate on this thesis. The first part, entitled "Journal Writing: Towards Quick-Response Literature", focuses on a newspaper article by Yanick Lahens published in the French daily Libération in 2008. In "Restoring Order through Quick Writing: The 2010 Haiti Earthquake", the second part of this article, the French reactions of Lahens after the earthquake in Haiti are discussed. Before concluding this article, the third part, "Urgent writing: The Assassination of the President", looks at the quick response of Lahens after the assassination of the Haitian president in 2021.