Creolizing Freedom: French–Creole Translations of Liberty and Equality in the Haitian Revolution

Abstract

During the Haitian Revolution, members of the French government produced official proclamations containing laws that sought to regulate liberty and define citizenship for the ex-slaves. The proclamations were in turn translated from French into Creole to be read aloud. The signatures of Sonthonax and Bonaparte on these Creole documents bear witness to the role of translation as a vehicle for the movement of revolutionary ideals between France and Saint-Domingue. Through rhetorical strategies like omissions, repetition, and call-and-response, the anonymous translators often subverted French power and authority, producing Creole versions of these official proclamations that were often more inclusive and created space for the audience of ex-slaves to participate in debating and defining their liberty, equality and citizenship.