Abstract
This is an overview of Haitian literature, without losing sight of the African traces that survived the Voyage. With, of course, a close-up on Ainsi parla l'oncle, Jean-Price Mars's seminal 1928 essay, the inspiration for the Négritude of Césaire, Senghor and Damas. For three decades, Haitian youth held the book in high esteem, until Duvalier came to power and made it the standard-bearer of his policies. Indigénisme, the local version of Négritude, drowned in Papa Doc's dictatorship. René Depestre summed it up in this striking title: "Bonjour et adieu à la négritude" ("Hello and farewell to Negritude"). That was the last time we saw the shadow of Africa in Haiti.
