Haiti and Modern Revolution. Narratives of Globality, Irreversibility and Subaltern Agency in the German-speaking World since 1791

• Applicant: Dr. Florian Kappeler
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 407730626

In German philology, the focal point of research on revolutions has been the French Revolution so far. By contrast, the thesis of this project is that central dimensions of the modern concept of revolution such as globality, irreversibility and subaltern agency evolved within narratives of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). In the German-speaking world of the late 18th and 19th century, this revolution was a media event inside a transnational print culture that comprised fictions, historical books and journal articles. Historico-political journals established an archive of the Haitian Revolution by translating and documenting original sources. Historians and poets incorporated this archive into narratives of the Haitian Revolution. The project will consider three central examples in particular: The narratives of imitation (of the French Revolution), of progress (from slavery and colonialism to a sovereign state) and of the 'Great men' (the leaders of the revolution such as Toussaint L’Ouverture). The thesis is that these narratives played a crucial role in the formation of central special, temporal and figural aspects of the modern concept of revolution (globality, irreversibility and subaltern agency).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants