Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Available to readers for the first time, Aim C saire's three act drama .....And the Dogs Were Silent dramatizes the Haitian Revolution and the rise and fall of Toussaint Louverture as its heroic leader. This bilingual English and French edition--written during the Vichy regime in Martinique in 1943--was lost until 2008 and stands apart from C saire's more widely known 1946 closet drama. Following the slave revolts that sparked the revolution, Louverture arrives as both prophet and poet, general and visionary. With striking dramatic technique, C saire retells the revolution in poignant encounters between rebels and colonial forces, guided by a prophetic chorus and Louverture's steady ethical and political vision. In the last act, we reach the hero's betrayal, imprisonment, and his last stand against the lures of compromise. C saire's masterwork is a strikingly beautiful and brutal indictment of colonial cruelty and an unabashed celebration of Black rebellion and victory.