Dance on the Volcano

I love translated fiction. We do ourselves a disservice when we fail to broaden our literature horizons and include points of view from around the world.   If I had the time I would do an "around the world" read, and I do try to sample from various parts of the globe.  Since books from the Caribbean are difficult to come by, I jumped at the chance to read Dance on the Volcano, and I'm so glad I did.

The story takes place in late 18th century Haiti, just before and during the French Revolution.  At the core of the novel is Minette, a young mulatto daughter of a freed slave.  Minette has an incredible voice and is soon added to the local opera despite the fact that blacks are not generally allowed to act in the main theater.   As she matures, Minette is increasingly aware of the injustices surrounding her and the suffering of her race.  But the story isn't really about Minette.  Yes, she's the star and the central figure, but the backdrop of 1780s Haiti (or Saint-Domingue, as it was known at the time), slavery, and race relations are the primary focus.  Throughout the course of the book, the slaves and freedmen/freedwomen of the French colony struggle against their masters and White counterparts, culminating in the Haitian Revolution.  

Dance on the Volcano is not an easy read by any means.  There were moments when I had to lay the book down and take a breath.  The author pulls no punches in describing the treatment of slaves during the time period.  At times I felt myself detach from the emotion of the book as the writing/translation allows for a certain objectivity, and honestly I was never fully emotionally invested in the main character but more with those surrounding her.  Minette struck me as ridiculously naive - even as she became more worldly - perhaps as a reflection of the time period.  There were aspects of the story that felt a bit anachronistic, but given my general lack of knowledge of Caribbean history, I'm likely wrong on that account.  

What I find most rewarding about reading translated fiction is that it makes me yearn to know more about the culture and time-periods of the stories and their authors.  I'm ashamed to say that my knowledge of the French Revolution is poor, and I had to do a bit of sleuthing to understand the timeline of events. I did a lot of Wikipedia searching while reading Dance on the Volcano, and I'm anxious to add more Haitian authors to my reading list.   For anyone who is interested in Caribbean or French history, or if you just enjoy historical fiction in general, this is a must read.

This book quickly places the reader in the the story...you are there.  I thoroughly enjoy books that fully immerses the reader.  This story starts off quickly...almost as if you are time travelling and just dropped into the moment. I found it very enlightening of a period of time that is not always spoken of.  We know of the revolution but there are chunks that are excluded from historical accounts. This story portrays one of those chunks. While it was not the easiest translated story to read, I am grateful to have read it.  I look forward to discovering more stories from this genre.

Review published on Goodreads on 8th November 2016

'Dance on the Volcano' by Marie Vieux-Chauvet (translated by Kaiama L Glover)

4.5 stars/ 9 out of 10

This story is set in a country about which I know very little, Haiti; and at a time about which I know even less, the Haitian Revolution.

Marie Vieux-Chauvet, through a story that revolves around the life of Minette, a  'mixed-blood' girl, provides us with a great insight into this time, the end of the 18th century. I was fascinated to find out more about this society and culture. I found all the descriptions very evocative, and felt that all my senses were actively involved in following the descriptions and actions in the book.

I very much enjoyed the book, and now intend to read a nonfiction account about the history and culture of Haiti.

This novel was originally published in French in 1957. I thought this translation was very readable. I am pleased that, as an English speaker, I am now able to share this insight that Marie Vieux-Chauvet has provided into her native country.

Thank you to Archipelago Books and to NetGalley for an ARC.

Fiction from the Haitian Revolution: ‘Dance on the Volcano’ by Marie Vieux-Chauvet
Posted on December 6, 2016 by shoshibookblog

This time last year, I started learning about the Haitian revolution.  I’m a devoted fan of Mike Duncan’s history podcasts, and December 2015 was when he started a new series about this little known but hugely significant event.   The Haitian revolution is rarely taught or discussed, but it resulted in the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the second republic in the Americas.  It also remains the only slave revolt in history to successfully create a new, free country.  In the midst of the confusion of the far more famous French revolution, the French colony of Saint-Domingue underwent its own turmoil, leading to its violent transition from slave economy with codified racism to independent Black-lead state.

Anyway, I was thrilled when I saw that the ever-wonderful Archipelago books were publishing ‘Dance on the Volcano’, according to Netgalley ‘one of the only novels to closely depict the seeds and fruition of the Haitian Revolution, tracking an elaborate hierarchy of skin, color and class through the experiences of two young women. It is a story about hatred and fear, love and loss, and the complex tensions between colonizer and colonized, masterfully translated by Kaiama L. Glover.’  An internet search revealed a picture of its glamorous-looking Haitian author and I couldn’t wait to get reading.

‘Dance on the Volcano’ tells the story of the beautiful and talented Minette, the mixed-race daughter of an ex-slave.  She’s so so beautiful but even more talented, and she ends up being taught music by a white opera singer.  Did I mention that she was beautiful and talented?  Anyway, she performs incognito at the theatre and takes the town by storm.  It is at a glamorous after-show party that that she meets the attractive and enigmatic Jean-Baptiste Lapointe.  Imagine her shock when it transpires he is too arrogant to dance with her!  ‘Oh!  she would get her revenge, she swore it.  Someday, she would meet him again and make him regret that insult. Refusing to dance with her, Minette, who had just sung at the Comédie and been admired by the Whites.  She would make him regret his behavior – even if it took ten years.‘

I think it’s fair to say that ‘Dance on the Volcano’ was not what I expected and I must confess that I enjoyed it immensely.  Or rather, I enjoyed the superficial love story, while grappling with the subversions that came from the historical setting.  While I think I’ve read the Cinderella plot at least a hundred times, I’ve never seen the proud, arrogant love-interest be cast as a Black slave-owner.  The historical fact is that slavery and racism were both legal within Saint-Domingue, but were not completely intertwined.  There were free Blacks and ‘Coloureds’; any free inhabitant with enough money could acquire slaves and this is the case for the proud and passionate Lapointe.  It does give an odd twist to the conventional romance plot though.  British books of this genre may relish the power their heroes wield, but rarely do the heroines see how  ‘All of these laboring faces, streaming with sweat, nervously anticipating the overseers’ whip, were screaming out a truth she refused to acknowledge.  Everything, from the leaf-covered huts to the factory with its mill, its oven and its chimneys – the entire existence of the exploitative and pitiless planter, rendered indifferent and vicious by the love of profit were all spread out right before her.’  

The situation is as complex as it is inhumane, but it is also interwoven with Mills & Boon tropes:
‘She looked at him.  Despite his violent attitude there was something charming – both infantile and cruel – emanating from him.  In pronouncing those last words, he had bitten his lip and his beautiful teeth were like a white stain on his dark mouth. “I hate the Whites as much as the Blacks.  the former despite me and the latter debase me.  I hate the female slave that was my mother – “‘

‘Dance on the Volcano’ is a novel not a history book; I wouldn’t say it taught me many new facts about the Haitian revolution, but it did give me a lot to think about.  It was a reminder that divisions between genres are not always helpful and that even ‘universal’ stories are always bound up in their cultural backgrounds. If you want to learn a bit about how Haiti moved from being a French colony bound by race laws and slavery to an independent Black-led republic, this is a good place to start.  Of course, if you want a more detailed account (though with fewer lines like ‘“You’re nothing but a monster.” “What does that matter, since I’m in love with you?”‘) I really recommend the Revolutions podcast – right now I’m learning about Simón Bolívar and Gran Columbia and I’m secretly hoping for some great Archipelago books covering the same topic in the coming year!