Traumatic Tremors: Repetition in René Depestre's "Face à la nuit" (1946)

Abstract: In the winter of 1945–46, André Breton delivered a series of lectures in Haiti. Young revolutionaries, galvanized by Breton's presence, launched the periodical La Ruche that, much like La Révolution surréaliste (1924–1930), demanded a complete break from the past, in literature, politics, and society. Like surrealism had grown from the trauma of World War I, La Ruche emerged from Haiti's cycling between republican hopes and authoritarian realities. La Ruche also sparked the January 1946 Revolution that dethroned President Eli Lescot. Whereas La Ruche has previously been described in relation to the revolution or, in surrealism studies, as a sign of Breton's influence, this paper posits a close reading of a poem in La Ruche to highlight its literary merit. René Depestre's "Face à la nuit" deploys allegory and repetition to evoke the historical trauma that Depestre's generation was attempting to work through in January 1946.