(photo source: Centre International de Documentation et d’Information Haïtienne, Caribéenne et Afro-canadienne (the International Center for Haitian, Caribbean, and Afro-Canadian Documentation and Information), also known as the CIDIHCA Collections.)
with Virginie Belony and Rachel Douglas
English
This panel explores how Haitians at home and abroad have remembered and processed major historical traumas, from political oppression to natural catastrophes. It features two interconnected presentations examining collective memory and its role in shaping Haitian identity and diaspora experiences. Dr. Rachel Douglas analyzes Myriam Chancy’s creative explorations of disaster response, focusing on earthquake memory sites and the process of ‘re-membering’ Haiti’s traumas. Her presentation delves into healing practices, commemoration, and transformative visions for Haiti’s future. Dr. Virginie Belony’s research investigates how Quebec’s Haitian community has engaged with memories of the Duvalier dictatorship (1957-1986). Through oral histories and community activism records, her work reveals diverse perspectives on the regime and its ongoing impact from 1964 to 2014. Together, these presentations provide insights into the emotional and political dimensions of memory in postcolonial contexts, demonstrating how trauma, resilience, and survival are deeply woven into both past and present narratives of Haiti and its diaspora.
Virginie Belony is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto, where she specializes in 20th-century Haitian history. She earned her Ph.D. in History from the Université de Montréal in 2023. Virginie Belony’s research examines Haitian intellectual thought before 1957, issues of contested memory following periods of state-sponsored violence, and collective memory in diasporic spaces. In addition to her research, she serves as an assistant editor for the annual publication Revue d’Histoire Haïtienne. Starting in January 2025, she will join the Department of History at the Université de Montréal as an assistant professor.
Rachel Douglas is Reader in French and Comparative Literature at the University of Glasgow. She is the author of two books: Making The Black Jacobins: C. L. R. James and the Drama of History (Duke University Press, 2019) and Frankétienne and Rewriting: A Work in Progress (Lexington Books, 2009). She works on Caribbean literature, history, film, visual art, and archives with a focus on Haiti. She is currently working on two book projects: Reimagining Haiti: Decolonial Visions, based on her Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Fellowship; and Archiving Creative Aftershocks of Disaster in Haiti, based on her current Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship.
REGISTRATION
Please note that all our events are free and open to all, but you need to register! Register here. For any questions contact, cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
In person (max 30 people), LB 1019 (Sunroom)
COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.
