What is it about?
This article examines the connection between vodou and dictatorship in Gérard Étienne's La Reine Soleil Levée. Both rely on physical and symbolic zombification to terrorize and exploit the people. Once again, Gérard Étienne denounces the alliance of religion and political power in a nightmarish world ruled by the forces of darkness. However, thanks to the spirit of rebellion that inspires the main heroine, the battle is not lost. The triumph of evil is never final, the author seems to insist. The revolt is the sun that rises at the end of the novel.
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Why is it important?
This article shows how Gérard Étienne takes the opposite view of vodou's praisers in La Reine Soleil Levée. The novelist condemns the alliance between this religion and the dictatorship in order to zombify the Haitian people.
Perspectives
It is the deconstruction of vodou as a religion that is shared by all Haitians. It is depicted rather as an instrument of subjugation of the people.
Joubert Satyre
University of Guelph
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: La Reine Soleil Levée de Gérard Étienne, ou le pacte entre vodou et dictature, Nouvelles Études Francophones, January 2019, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/nef.2019.0016.
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