skygiants | (no subject)

C.L.R. James' The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution is well worth reading for a multitude of reasons, but I have to give a shout out above all things to the amazing bibliography. A representative quote, on R. Coupland's Wilberforce (London 1923) and The British Anti-Slavery Movement (London 1933): Both these books are typical for, among other vices, their smug sentimentality, characteristic of the final approach of Oxford scholarship to abolition. As the official view, they can be recommended for their thorough misunderstanding of the question. AND NOT A SINGLE PUNCH WAS PULLED THAT DAY. I took some pictures of other choice quotes and every time I look through them it fills me with joy to the bottom of my heart.

ANYWAY. The history of the Haitian revolution is incredibly fascinating on its own merits - I did know that was the only successful slave revolt of its era, but I didn't really have a great sense of the complex relationship between Haiti (or San Domingue, as it was then called) and France in that ten-year period between the French Revolution and the ascent of Napoleon, when slavery was all-too-briefly abolished and the question of independence vs faithful adherence to a then-revolutionary motherland still very much up in the air. The difficulty in trying to make political decisions based on the vacillations of an ongoing revolution taking place across an entire ocean, when any choice you make might already have been invalidated by something that happened three weeks ago that you have no way to know about -- I can't even imagine, and James does an extremely good job of conveying the sheer chaos of events, and the incredible achievement that the revolution was in spite of all attendant tragedies.

(James overall reads to me as both a generous and fair-minded writer; although Toussaint L'Ouverture is the central and most heroic figure of his narrative, he's careful to point out his mistakes, and equally careful to consider the merits of his enemies. For example, on Andre Rigaud, a rival of Toussaint's who overall sided with the white French: The waste, the waste of all this bravery, devotion and noble feeling on the corrupt and rapacious bourgeois who were still, in the eyes of the misguided Rigaud, the banner-bearers of liberty and equality.)

But James' text is also fascinating on a second level,having been written in a specific time with a specific project in mind. The book was first published in 1938, as the world teetered on the verge of World War II; the edition I read was published in 1963, and included an appendix on the Cuban Revolution. James' project is very explicitly radical, his primary intended audience those who are working towards the the decolonization of Africa and the West Indies, and as a result nearly every page forces you to think about history not as a series of disconnected events but as a long continuity of circumstances and collisions that have all impacted each other to create the world we live in today. As the first book I read this year, I suspect it's going to resonate through the rest of it.

In other news, now that

shati and I have both read this book, we are desperate to find a copy of the 2012 French bioic starring Jimmy Jean-Louis, as yet unreleased in the US and available for purchase only for the princely sum of $99.99, so if anybody happens to have a lead on where to acquire it please do let us know!

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From:

sovay

James' project is very explicitly radical, his primary intended audience those who are working towards the the decolonization of Africa and the West Indies, and as a result nearly every page forces you to think about history not as a series of disconnected events but as a long continuity of circumstances and collisions that have all impacted each other to create the world we live in today.

That's neat! I was wondering from the bibliography; I'm glad it was published that early and reissued that deliberately.

From:

skygiants

It was also reissued in ... 1980, I think? And now I'm very curious about what additional notes and remarks that publication has.

From:

genarti

For the biopic: it's available on Amazon.ca for $47.52 CAD ($36ish US by current exchange rates), and I would be happy to be the shipping address! That said, the listing warns that it's a region 2 dvd, and I don't know if you guys have the ability to play those. There's also a blu-ray version for $55.77 CAD, if that's more useful.

In both cases, there are only a couple of copies available, and I have no idea if others are likely to become available soon or not.

(In general, though, I find Amazon.ca a handy way to acquire French-language stuff I'm having trouble finding in the US! That was true even when I was in the States; they'll ship to the US, just for higher shipping costs.)

From:

melita66

Ebay has a "new" but opened blu-ray from France for <USD20.

From:

skygiants

Iiiinteresting. Research indicates that region 2 DVDs can be played in a computer if you're willing to switch your computer's region code! (You can only do it up to five times ... but I haven't done it even once, so, you know. This seems a worthy cause.) This is certainly worth checking out if ILL fails us...

From:

derridian

I use VLC media player (free, open source) to watch DVDs on my laptop and it's played DVDs outside my region without a problem (I can't remember which region but when I borrow DVDs from the library with a warning that you need a multi-region player to watch them I just shrug, take it home and pop it into my laptop as ususal).

From:

shati

Yeah, the region was really my main concern, there were cheaper used copies listed through US Amazon.

From:

skygiants

My computer DVD player right now reads as 'Region Not Selected' and gives me a list of literally every country in the world. I have INFINITE POWER on this.

From:

shati

You only have 5 wishes!!

No, but that's great if the ILL comes through. I'd consider buying it if I had a way to play it myself, but I'm afraid of region change commitment. D:

From:

shati

ALTHOUGH...Amazon.ca does have region 2 DVD players.........

From:

kore

Oh wow, this sounds amazing.

From:

skygiants

He also wrote a three-act play about Toussaint L'Ouverture which I would love to see staged anyone ever were to do it!

(...and, apparently, a lot about cricket.)

From:

sovay

(...and, apparently, a lot about cricket.)

I've heard about him in his capacity as a cricket writer! And I don't even pay attention to cricket!

From:

skygiants

I had heard NOTHING about him in his capacity as a cricket writer and was quite surprised to find that this was what he was primarily famous for!

From:

venetia_sassy

Ooh, I must read this. I've read bits about the revolution in a number of books but never a book wholly about the revolution. I hadn't heard of this one.

and as a result nearly every page forces you to think about history not as a series of disconnected events but as a long continuity of circumstances and collisions that have all impacted each other to create the world we live in today.

This is one of the most fascinating aspects of history to me, so very good recommendation! Also, that bibliography. *snorts*

From:

skygiants

Yes! It's definitely what a history book ought to do, I think (and I always like recs for ones that do!)

From:

luzula

Huh, I had just today written down a different book about the same person (Toussaint Louverture - A Revolutionary Life (2016) by Philippe Girard) on my list of books to check out.

From:

skygiants

Oh, interesting! If you read it I'll be curious to see what you think and how it compares.

From:

oracne

This sounds most intriguing.

From:

skygiants

It is both extremely interesting and, so far as I can tell, extremely well-researched! And I appreciate so much historians come in like 'HERE IS MY AGENDA, I'M TELLING YOU UPFRONT' - it's vastly preferable to pretending a neutrality that nobody actually feels.

From:

coffeeandink

the 2012 French bioic starring Jimmy Jean-Louis

I DID NOT KNOW THIS EXISTED AND NOW I MUST HAVE IT.

From:

skygiants

I will let you know if I manage to acquire it! >.>

From:

dhampyresa

the 2012 French bioic starring Jimmy Jean-Louis
Oh hey! I saw that! When it was on tv.

I tried googling around to see if it was available on any of the official replay services. I did not find it there. (Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if it had been caught up in the FranceO thing, sigh)

From:

skygiants

Oh, what did you think of it when it was on TV?

From:

dhampyresa

I enjoyed it!

Btw, I ended up finding this VOD site that claims to have it. They seem legit, but I haven't checked.

From:

melita66

I have a cheap DVD player for which I have the crack/hack code to make it region-free. Philips DVP1013 which is unfortunately no longer made, it looks like.