What Are Robespierre and Télémaque Doing in Saint-Domingue?: Humanness, Revolutionary Legitimacy, and Political Order in Charles Pigault-Lebrun’s Le blanc et le noir  (1795)

Jonas Ross Kjærgård

doi:10.1111/oli.12157

What Are Robespierre and Télémaque Doing in Saint-Domingue? Humanness, Revolutionary Legitimacy, and Political Order in Charles Pigault-Lebrun’s Le blanc et le noir (1795)

School of Communication and Culture - Comparative Literature

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Charles Pigault-Lebrun's play Le blanc et le noir (1795) is one of only a handful of French revolutionary plays to stage the Saint-Domingue slave rebellion, a rebellion today better known as the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804). I argue that Pigault-Lebrun uses early melodramatic generic traits to develop a theatrical thought experiment revolving around three main themes: humanness, revolutionary legitimacy, and political order. Crucially, Pigault-Lebrun does so by transporting French revolutionary figures and themes to the colonial setting, which means that his depiction of Caribbean revolt is seen through a distinctly Parisian lens. The first consequence of this framing is an omission of specifically Haitian concerns. The second is a particular infusion of colonial problems into metropolitan discussions. In analyzing this reciprocal transportation of figures and discourse, the article shows how the colonies not only affected the material lives of millions of Europeans but also influenced crucial questions of humanness, societal change, and political order.

Translated title of the contribution	Hvad laver Robespierre og Telemachos i Saint-Domingue?: Menneskelighed, revolutionær legitimitet og politisk orden i Charles Pigault-Lebruns Le blanc et le noir (1795)
Original language	English
Journal	Orbis Litterarum
Volume	73
Issue	2
Pages (from-to)	186-212
Number of pages	27
ISSN	0105-7510
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/oli.12157
Publication status	Published - 2 Mar 2018

Keywords

The Haitian Revolution
The French Revolution
Melodrama
Human Rights
Theatre History

Access to Document

10.1111/oli.12157

What Are Robespierre and Télémaque Doing in Saint-Domingue_Accepted manuscript_2018Accepted manuscript, 465 KB

Reading Slavery - Comparative Studies of the Literature of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Kjærgård, J. R. (Participant), Andersen, F. (Participant), Simonsen, K.-M. (Participant), Carvalho, V. M. D. (Participant), Ladegaard, J. (Participant), Baggesgaard, M. A. (Project manager), Smed, S. J. (Participant) & Pelckmans, L. (Participant)
01/02/2015 → 23/09/2019
Project: Research

Cite this

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abstract = "Charles Pigault-Lebrun's play Le blanc et le noir (1795) is one of only a handful of French revolutionary plays to stage the Saint-Domingue slave rebellion, a rebellion today better known as the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804). I argue that Pigault-Lebrun uses early melodramatic generic traits to develop a theatrical thought experiment revolving around three main themes: humanness, revolutionary legitimacy, and political order. Crucially, Pigault-Lebrun does so by transporting French revolutionary figures and themes to the colonial setting, which means that his depiction of Caribbean revolt is seen through a distinctly Parisian lens. The first consequence of this framing is an omission of specifically Haitian concerns. The second is a particular infusion of colonial problems into metropolitan discussions. In analyzing this reciprocal transportation of figures and discourse, the article shows how the colonies not only affected the material lives of millions of Europeans but also influenced crucial questions of humanness, societal change, and political order.",

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doi = "10.1111/oli.12157",

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What Are Robespierre and Télémaque Doing in Saint-Domingue? Humanness, Revolutionary Legitimacy, and Political Order in Charles Pigault-Lebrun’s Le blanc et le noir (1795). / Kjærgård, Jonas Ross.
In: Orbis Litterarum, Vol. 73, No. 2, 02.03.2018, p. 186-212.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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What Are Robespierre and Télémaque Doing in Saint-Domingue? Humanness, Revolutionary Legitimacy, and Political Order in Charles Pigault-Lebrun’s Le blanc et le noir (1795)

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Keywords

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Reading Slavery - Comparative Studies of the Literature of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Cite this