In 1928, sociologists Dorothy Swaine and William Isaac Thomas formulated a theory later named the Thomas Theorem (Wikipedia). The Thomas Theorem states that “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Wiki). What the Thomas theorem means is that regardless of the truth to a situation, it is the perceived truth that will determine how the outcome is interpreted and even the outcome itself. The Thomas Theorem is closely linked with the self-fulfilling prophecy, a term created by Robert Merton which can be defined as “a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true” (Biggs).

In Dany Laferriere’s The World is Moving Around Me, he depicts the events during and surrounding the 2010 earthquake that devastated his home country of Haiti. He explains that in writing his memoir he hopes not only to depict the earthquake accurately, but to depict Haiti accurately, something he argues the outside world has failed to do through international media.

“And now here comes a new label that is going to bury us completely: Haiti is a cursed country. Some Haitians, at the end of their rope, are even starting to believe it. […] The only place to fight that label is where it germinated: in Western opinion.” (Laferriere 76)

It’s in this idea of media representation where the Thomas Theorem and the self-fulfilling prophecy become relevant to life narrative. Applying the self-fulfilling prophecy in this case may look something like this: the media says Haiti is cursed, Haitians believe it, they then act in a way that further supports the idea that it is cursed. Now whilst a “curse” may be a difficult thing for any scholar or scientist to identify, the phrase could just as easily be something like “Haiti is more prone to devastating events than other countries”, which is considerably more identifiable as “Devastating events” (some, that is) can be caused by humans and thus can be subject to the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Laferriere is identifying in this passage and in this book something that sociologists may see as a real problem: how the hegemonic way of looking at Haiti could actually in a way be causing Haiti some of its troubles. That being said, it clearly was not this dominant viewpoint that caused the 2010 earthquake. But, it is this dominant viewpoint that causes international onlookers to attribute a tragedy that could have easily occurred in another part of the world to the idea that Haiti is “cursed”. And, if the Thomas Theorem and Laferriere are to be believed, then it could be this hegemonic text that is contributing to the issues that have plagued Haiti for some time.

Having this sociological knowledge assists the literary scholar in that it highlights the very real need for counter-hegemonic text in life narrative and the equally real effects of failing to have diversity in how something, such as a country, disability, or race, is described in text.  How the international community views Haiti is of course beyond the realm of formal life narrative, taking its biggest influence from the media (which can often be its own form of life narrative). However, in The World is Moving Around Me, Dany Laferriere uses his writing to try and fight the dominant and negative view that the world has developed surrounding his home country of Haiti.

References:

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sfos0060/prophecies.shtml (definition of Self-fulfilling Prophecy) (Biggs)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_theorem    (definition of the Thomas Theorem) (wiki)

Laferriere, Dany. The World Is Moving around Me: A Memoir of the Haiti Earthquake. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 2013. Print