Writing on the Fault Line: Haitian Literature and the Earthquake of 2010 by Martin Munro (review)

Reviews 271 gence, and Zola was considered to be kind of degenerate because of his shocking narratives. He was, of course, Édouard Toulouse’s“case study,”Zola’s own“aveu”about himself. In his literary analyses, Zola looks for the imprint of the author, as if writers were embedded physically in the text, as Zola seeks “confessions” from them. Boston University Dorothy Kelly Munro, Martin. Writing on the Fault Line: Haitian Literature and the Earthquake of 2010. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2015. ISBN 978-1-78138-146-5. Pp. 288. £75. Because the epicenter of the 12 Jan. 2010 earthquake in Haiti was located only miles from the nation’s populous capital, the devastating scale of structural damage and loss of life—conservative estimates place the death toll at 230,000—means that most Haitians living in the country or abroad were personally affected by the disaster. Writers inevitably account for part of this demographic, and it is to the postearthquake production of this proportionally small yet significant group that Munro directs his attention. Focusing on Haitian literary works published since the disaster, Munro asks what, precisely, the role of fiction is in post-earthquake Haiti. Despite the seemingly short time frame in question (2010–14), his study affords by way of clear synopses and close readings an impressively broad, albeit equally profound exploration of Haitian literature, as well as what proves more generally to be a compelling and at times eloquent apologia for the value of literature in times of crisis. In addressing the extensive backdrop of the country’s literary history, Munro is quick to point out that Haitian literature has long “functioned as a site in which are debated and explored many of the issues that the state ignores and appears unable to act upon”(8).As such, the voices of Haitian writers have often filled the voids left by the“absence of coherent state discourse” (10). Writing fiction in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake should not be taken for granted, however, since the writers Munro examines not only struggle personally with the psychological effects of the event but moreover grapple with the ethical dilemma presented by inventing, and potentially being perceived as profiting from, imaginary accounts of the catastrophe. Consequently, what Munro describes as “a safer genre”appeared first in the form of essays and testimonials that authors wrote as a means of “testifying to the reality of individual and collective experience” (73) during and after the earthquake; only afterward did short fiction and, finally, novels appear in print. In what proves to be an engrossing anatomy of sorts of post-earthquake writing, Munro details in chapters 1 to 3 the generic means by which both established and formerly unknown authors “went public” with their writing in the years following the earthquake. Additional chapters discuss novels published since 2010 that do not mention the earthquake (chapter 4) and the transformative notion of the “Haitian soul” in post-earthquake poetry (chapter 5). The book’s introduction states that it is necessary for Haitian writers to be more widely read outside of Haiti because their voices constitute important perspectives in current debates on the country’s past, present, and future. As true as Munro’s assertion is—and this reader could not agree with it more—this book also speaks more broadly to the cultural, political, aesthetic, and historical importance of literature as a valid means of creating knowledge. It offers inspired, articulate reasons as to why Haitian literature, and fiction as a genre, provides invaluable testimony for better understanding countries and their people in difficult times. Boise State University (ID) Jason Herbeck Murphy, Steve, éd. Lectures du Spleen de Paris. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2014. ISBN 978-2-7535-3490-2. Pp. 372. 18 a. These excellent essays from researchers in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom move the prose poems from the status of poor cousin to Les fleurs du mal to that of main progenitor of Baudelairean and modern poetry studies. Inevitable comparisons with Baudelaire’s lyrical poetry have resulted in the prose poems’ delayed recognition (Kopp) and, until recently, in critics’ ambivalence toward them (Vaillant). Murphy’s volume, however, shows the...