THE SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE IN HAITIAN WOMEN: A READING OF EDWIDGE DANTICAT’S “NINETEEN THIRTY-SEVEN”

Abstract

Resilience is the ability to adapt oneself to the adversities of life. When people encounter distressing incidents, they become traumatic. While some try to bounce back to their normal self, a few continue to remain dejected till the end. Haiti is known for poverty, repression, dictatorships, and military coups; hence there is a constant threat in the lives of the civilians. Haitian women are the victims of state sponsored violence and foreign invasions. Yet they remain optimistic. Their resilient spirit is seen amidst the hardships. The short story

“Nineteen Thirty-Seven” is written by Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian- American diasporic writer. She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January

19, 1969. The story “Nineteen Thirty-Seven” revolves around three women in a Haitian mother line who are the victims of the socio-political atmosphere in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic. The protagonist Josephine is born when her grandmother is slaughtered in the 1937 massacre in the Dominican Republic. Josephine’s mother witnesses her mother’s death and gives birth to Josephine. Instead of becoming traumatic, she gathers strength from her daughter by strongly believing that she has come to fill the void created in her life. Later in Haiti, Josephine’s mother is imprisoned mistakenly for practicing witchcraft; so Josephine is forced to live in seclusion. Though daughters in the story are forcefully cut off from their mothers, they try to keep themselves strong and connected by their love and memories.This paper attempts to shed light on the resilient spirit of Haitian women in Edwidge Danticat’s “Nineteen Thirty-Seven”.