French Literature Reviews - 2026
Yanick Lahens, Haitian Literature: The Urgency of Writing, the Dream of Dwelling
Francophone and Oral Literatures
Review published in Acta Fabula (January 2020, vol. 21, no. 2): Christophe Cosker, "Yanick Lahens: Haïti au Collège de France"
Haitian Literature: The Urgency of Writing, the Dream of Dwelling
Yanick Lahens
Co-published by Collège de France / Fayard, coll. Leçons inaugurales
Publication date: September 18, 2019
80 p. — ISBN: 978-2-213-71264-2
Price: 12 € (print) / 4.99 € (digital)
"To speak of Haiti and its literature otherwise is to ask, through the words of its male and female writers, what insight the Haitian experience can offer today to the Francophone world, if not to the world at large. How, starting from a historical event bordering on the unthinkable—namely, a victorious revolution led at the end of the XVIIIe century by men and women transplanted from Africa to America and reduced to slavery—a civilization emerges of which literature will be a major component. How, in the deadlock that followed this revolution, these dispossessed, displaced, and linguistically unsettled men and women never ceased to voice or write a dream of dwelling, thereby demonstrating that literature often begins precisely where speech becomes impossible."
Yanick Lahens is a Haitian writer. Her novels have received numerous awards, notably the Prix Femina in 2014. Her lectures at the Collège de France in 2018-2019 inaugurated the annual Francophone Worlds chair, created in partnership with the Agence universitaire de la francophonie.
Information about the book on the Fayard publishing website.
Presentation of the author and her teaching on the Collège de France website.
Digital book forthcoming in open access on OpenEdition Books:
The text originates from the inaugural lectures delivered by Yanick Lahens at the Collège de France for the newly established Francophone Worlds chair. This academic tradition invites scholars and writers to present their reflections on contemporary issues within the French-speaking world. Lahens discusses the emergence of a literary civilization following the Haitian Revolution, a historical event led by men and women transplanted from Africa to America. By situating her work within this context, she explores how literature functions as a response to the social and political challenges faced by a nation born from the struggle against slavery.
The discussion centers on the tension between the historical reality of displacement and the persistent human desire to establish a sense of place. Lahens investigates how Haitian writers have navigated the aftermath of revolutionary upheaval, turning to literature to express a dream of dwelling. Her work addresses the complexities of the Francophone experience and its global implications. Readers interested in the intersection of post-colonial history and literary expression may find this reflection on the urgency of writing relevant to their study of Caribbean letters.