Recycling Revolution in Haitian Print Culture

The panel’s final paper takes a broader view of “print culture,” considering how its rise has altered our critical vocabulary by replacing intention, artistry, and craftsmanship with dissemination, circulation, and... [ view full abstract ]

The panel’s final paper takes a broader view of “print culture,” considering how its rise has altered our critical vocabulary by replacing intention, artistry, and craftsmanship with dissemination, circulation, and cultural flows. In place of these more familiar “tropes of print culture,” Mary Grace Albanese ends by making a strong case for the utility of “recycling” as a metaphor for thinking about a practice that preserves intention while allowing for contingency, that is recursive but also future oriented. As a case study, she considers a set of reprintings, original poems, and descriptions of parades and performances in the Haitian press which commemorate John Brown’s attempted insurrection at Harper’s Ferry. Ultimately, recycling as a critical trope – that is to say, a history of circulation that moves across space and time in unexpected ways - allows for a fuller understanding of Brown’s significance to Haiti and, just as importantly, Haiti’s significance to Brown.