Primarily, Alejo Carpentier’s “The Kingdom of This World” is a book which surrounds itself with themes of conflict. Through portraying the violence that slave revolts might bring, as well as comparing it to the actual trauma that comes through the Haitian slave trade, it mirrors the internal struggle of ideology inherent in its characters regarding the difficulty not only in winning a revolution with force, but also one that convinces others with its ideas. This is done through charting the Haitian revolution from 1799 to 1804 and showing its aftermath—the latter of which is often lost in the romantic ideas of present day “change” without any care for what arises from its conflict. In a sense, the story shows the tension of resistance that comes about through the “two worlds” of the slave trade in the form of the master-slave relationship. It is also in this way Carpentier’s narrative seeks to capture French/Spanish identity as the real marvellous–in essence, a precursor to its signature style of magical realism.
It was owing to the author’s idea of capturing the “real marvellous” I most enjoyed the writing style of this book. In a similar day-dream style to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one sequence wherein the protagonist Ti Noel compares calves heads’ to the decapitated human white heads of masters is particularly striking in the context of the narrative of revolution. This is contrasted with newsprints of the French Revolution and the imagery of the death of King Louie in 1793. Overall, the tension remains ripe in the air through the everyday objects which, on their own, reveal little significance outside of the lofty dreams and hopes and fantasies of the protagonist. It is only through contemporary news on the periphery that drives the narrative forward.
To quote the lecture, “where Europe meets Africa” stands as the backdrop of this story. Present day strife is often fuelled by age-old conflict, whether blatantly obvious or buried. But it is in the spiritual seance of the Americas where the plot can find some footing outside of a mere timepiece—for as the prologue attempts to inform the reader, many of the rituals within the book’s pages can be found in Venezuela and other countries to this day. Through the focus on creating a mood and feel of the real marvellous, I believe “The Kingdom of This World” stands as a true example of Latin American literature: representing not merely the regional zeitgeist of Haiti, but the conflicts surrounding colonialism and slavery which are common across the genre as a whole.
My prompt for the class this week will be one that questions the definition of Latin American literature as a whole. Is magical realism a style which has always been a vital component of describing most Latin culture, as shown through Carpentier and Marquez, or simply a modern phenomenon which transcends region? S
“This is contrasted with newsprints of the French Revolution and the imagery of the death of King Louie in 1793.”
Just a quick note… this comparison is only implicit in the book (though I make it clear in my lecture). In the plot, we are still in the 1750s (before Mackandal’s rebellion), so the news would not have been on the French Revolution (which did not start until 1789).
“Is magical realism a style which has always been a vital component of describing most Latin culture, as shown through Carpentier and Marquez.”
As for your question… certainly not *always*, in that there was plenty of Latin American literature (some of which we’ve read) that pre-dates the rise of “magical realism.” As for how good a lens it is through which to understand Latin American culture… perhaps we will see as the course goes along!
Hi Samuel, I found your blog post really interesting. I really like how you discussed the clashing of New vs. Old World methods of thinking and this text does a great job of forefronting that conflict. Your question is interesting, and maybe the genre surpasses the need for a region that is associated with it.