Videos by Matt Robertshaw
In 1974, the first two Black teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Zaire and Haiti were describ... more In 1974, the first two Black teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Zaire and Haiti were described as “inexperienced minnows,” and soccer fans and sport historians alike remember their supposedly dismal showings in West Germany. But if we dig a little deeper it becomes clear that the narrative doesn’t match what actually took place on the fields. In this video, I argue that the memory of the first two Black teams was skewed by commentators who were anxious about Europe’s declining position in the world. 58 views
Papers by Matt Robertshaw
The twenty-three years (1934-1957) between the end of the US Occupation and the start of the Duva... more The twenty-three years (1934-1957) between the end of the US Occupation and the start of the Duvalier era were a dynamic period of introspection and change in Haitian society. The relatively high degree of freedom of expression, the proliferation of ideologies like Marxism and Noirisme, and the "Revolution of 1946" were all linked to a transformation of Haitian politics and culture unprecedented since 1804. One clear indication of the spirit of this chapter of the country's history, which I have labeled the Haitian Sixties, was the progress made by the Kreyòl movement. After the setbacks under the US Occupation, the call for a legitimation of the popular language entered a phase of renewed vigor: it was bolstered by groundbreaking philological studies, concerted attempts to create a standard orthography, experiments in the use of the Kreyòl language as a medium of instruction, and a renaissance in Kreyòl-language literature. Yet as the movement progressed, it was hampered by new internal divisions and longstanding prejudices at different levels of Haitian society.
New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids, 2019
The Duvalier presidencies were a devastating chapter in the history of Haiti. There is, however, ... more The Duvalier presidencies were a devastating chapter in the history of Haiti. There is, however, one aspect of Haitian society that went through unexpected progress in the midst of these despotic regimes. Haitian Creole has long been excluded from formal and written contexts, despite being the only language common to all Haitians. The debate over whether Creole should be used in formal contexts for the sake of the country’s development and democratization began in earnest at the start of the twentieth century but was far from being resolved when François Duvalier came to power in 1957. Surprisingly, perceptions of Creole changed drastically during the Duvalier era, so that by the time Jean-Claude Duvalier fell from power in 1986 the status of Creole had improved markedly, so much that it had become typical for Haitians to use the language, along with French, in virtually all contexts.
Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes, 2018
ABSTRACT A century after the slaves of Saint-Domingue won their liberty, their descendants, the f... more ABSTRACT A century after the slaves of Saint-Domingue won their liberty, their descendants, the free peasantry of the Republic of Haiti, remained impoverished and without access to channels of recourse. Their isolation was exacerbated by the linguistic divide in Haiti, where French was the exclusive language of official and written contexts while the majority of the population spoke only Haitian Creole. At the start of the twentieth century, a movement began to dismantle this linguistic hierarchy. Haitian poets and novelists started using Creole in their works of literature in order to contest the notion that Creole was an inferior language. They believed that a linguistic revolution would allow Haiti’s monolingual masses to participate in public life for the first time in Haiti’s history. Georges Sylvain, Frédéric Marcelin, and their colleagues effectively opened the debate around the status of Creole, and founded a national literature in the process.
Journal of Haitian Studies, 2018
Borders Undergraduate Arts Journal, Jan 2, 2014
The Journal of Haitian Studies, 2021
The twenty-three years (1934-1957) between the end of the US Occupation and the start of the Duva... more The twenty-three years (1934-1957) between the end of the US Occupation and the start of the Duvalier era were a dynamic period of introspection and change in Haitian society. The relatively high degree of freedom of expression, the proliferation of ideologies like Marxism and Noirisme, and the "Revolution of 1946" were all linked to a transformation of Haitian politics and culture unprecedented since 1804. One clear indication of the spirit of this chapter of the country's history, which I have labeled the Haitian Sixties, was the progress made by the Kreyòl movement. After the setbacks under the US Occupation, the call for a legitimation of the popular language entered a phase of renewed vigor: it was bolstered by groundbreaking philological studies, concerted attempts to create a standard orthography, experiments in the use of the Kreyòl language as a medium of instruction, and a renaissance in Kreyòl-language literature. Yet as the movement progressed, it was hampered by new internal divisions and longstanding prejudices at different levels of Haitian society.
New West Indian Guide, 2019
The Duvalier presidencies were a devastating chapter in the history of Haiti. There is, however, ... more The Duvalier presidencies were a devastating chapter in the history of Haiti. There is, however, one aspect of Haitian society that went through unexpected progress in the midst of these despotic regimes. Haitian Creole has long been excluded from formal and written contexts, despite being the only language common to all Haitians. The debate over whether Creole should be used in formal contexts for the sake of the coun-try's development and democratization began in earnest at the start of the twentieth century but was far from being resolved when François Duvalier came to power in 1957. Surprisingly, perceptions of Creole changed drastically during the Duvalier era, so that by the time Jean-Claude Duvalier fell from power in 1986 the status of Creole had improved markedly, so much that it had become typical for Haitians to use the language, along with French, in virtually all contexts. Keywords Haiti-language rights-Duvalier-literature-diaspora-Creole-Kreyòl-education … Nou di ke kréol pa doué ékri gnou lot jan ke fransé. Tou sa, se blag … Nou pase toua zan lékol pou nou aprann ke ["]an, en, ant, ent["] fè an. Tou sa se pèdu tan … Si sé tout bagay sa-a yo ké nou vlé pou gnou adult ki pa gin tan pou li pèdu, ale chita lékol aprann, nou se gnou bann ransè … Si dépi dizuitsankat nou té ékri pou pèp-la nan gnou jan pi fasil, pèp la ta konnin li. Bay moun la pè, mété litératu fransé sou kote jouk nou kapab fè gingnin souasant kenz pou san moun nan pei-a konnin li … Pèp la bezouin li e li
Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino- américaines et caraïbes , 2019
A century after the slaves of Saint-Domingue won their liberty, their descendants, the free peasa... more A century after the slaves of Saint-Domingue won their liberty, their descendants, the free peasantry of the Republic of Haiti, remained impoverished and without access to channels of recourse. Their isolation was exacerbated by the linguistic divide in Haiti, where French was the exclusive language of official and written contexts while the majority of the popula- tion spoke only Haitian Creole. At the start of the twentieth century, a movement began to dismantle this linguistic hier- archy. Haitian poets and novelists started using Creole in their works of literature in order to contest the notion that Creole was an inferior language. They believed that a linguistic revo- lution would allow Haiti’s monolingual masses to participate in public life for the first time in Haiti’s history. Georges Sylvain, Frédéric Marcelin, and their colleagues effectively opened the debate around the status of Creole, and founded a national literature in the process.
At the start of the twentieth century a movement began to dismantle Haiti’s linguistic hierarchy.... more At the start of the twentieth century a movement began to dismantle Haiti’s linguistic hierarchy. Haitian writers started using Creole in their works of literature in order to contest the notion that Creole was unfit for written and formal contexts. Such a linguistic revolution would allow Haiti’s monolingual masses to participate in public life. The emergent Creole movement, however, came to an abrupt end with the onset of the US Occupation in 1915. Haitian intellectuals opted to cling to their French cultural heritage as a way of contesting the validity of the Americans’ ‘civilizing mission.’ The Creole project was shelved. Curiously, the Americans had their own reasons for expanding the use of Creole, and contributed greatly to the infrastructure of the language. The Americans, however, provoked widespread opposition and undermined their own work on the Creole question. The cause of language legitimation, much like Haitian democracy itself, ultimately regressed under the Occupation.
Drafts by Matt Robertshaw
In 1974, two events transpired in world football which highlighted important issues facing the in... more In 1974, two events transpired in world football which highlighted important issues facing the international community in a post-colonial world. First, the Brazilian João Havelange was elected as president of FIFA. Havelange, the first non-European to hold the highest post in international football, broke Europe’s grip on the sport by leveraging the growing number of African votes; he promised to grant more Finals slots to African teams and to invest heavily in athletic talent and infrastructure in the developing world, ultimately bringing greater equality and fairness to the world’s favourite sport. Mere days after his election, however, the World Cup Finals began, and two countries, Zaire and Haiti, made their debut at the highest level of international sport. The presence of (and the reactions to) these two teams raised serious questions about the problems facing the globalization of sport. On the one hand, the meagre performance of both teams in West Germany ostensibly revealed a gaping disparity in standards of play. On the other, a closer look at reporting on the two teams’ showings, when set alongside that of the other newcomer, Australia, shows that the media often betrayed a prejudice against the black footballers. Finally, the dictatorial governments of both nations raised the question of the degree to which international organizations should be apolitical. By examining the experiences of the Haitian and Zairian national football teams at their only World Cup Finals, and by studying the various press responses to their presence, one can glean an informative picture of the issues facing internationalization in the wake of colonialism.
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Videos by Matt Robertshaw
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Drafts by Matt Robertshaw