The Kingdom of This World () is a novel by Cuban author Alejo Carpentier, published in 1949 in his native Spanish and first translated into English in 1957. A work of historical fiction, it tells the story of Haiti before, during, and after the Haitian Revolution led by Toussaint Louverture, as seen by its central character, Ti Noel, who serves as the novel's connecting thread. Carpentier's work has been influenced by his multi-cultural experience and his passion for the arts, as well as by authors such as Miguel de Cervantes. The novel stems from the author's desire to retrace the roots and history of the New World, and is embedded with what Carpentier calls "lo real maravilloso" or "the marvelous real"—a concept he introduced to the world of literature (not to be confused with magical realism).
Throughout the novel, varying perceptions of reality that arise due to cultural differences between its characters are emphasized and contrasted. Carpentier explores hybridization, nature, voodoo, ethnicity, history and destiny, confusion, violence, and sexuality in a style that blends history with fiction and uses repetition to emphasize the cyclical nature of events. The novel was largely well-received with much attention paid to Carpentier's inclusion of magic realism and The Kingdom of This World has been described as an important work in the development of this genre in Caribbean and Latin American literature. However, some technical aspects of his style have been ignored by the academic community, and the novel's narrative organization has been criticized.
Background
Author
Alejo Carpentier was born on December 26, 1904, in Lausanne, Switzerland and grew up in Havana, Cuba. He subsequently moved to France in 1933 (at the age of 29) and returned to Cuba six years later, in 1939. Once in Cuba, Carpentier joined a group of young writers whose goal was to establish a literature faithful to the New World, by recovering origins, history, and tradition. In 1943, he travelled to Haiti, where he was made aware of Dominique Hyppolyte's play, Le Torrent, about the Haitian Revolution, which features a character named Ti Noel. As The Kingdom of This World coincides with Carpentier's return to Cuba, it is very much influenced by the author's re-encounter with himself and his origins.
Setting
The Kingdom of This World takes place prior to, during, and after the Haitian Revolution which began in 1791 and led to the declaration of Haitian independence in 1804. This revolution was a turning point in global history because it was unthinkable that such a massive anti-slavery revolt would not only take place, but also be successful; therefore, it challenged the prejudices of its time and ultimately influenced abolitionist movements throughout the Americas. Haitians became the second nation to break from their European colonizer (following the US). The Haitian revolution differed from the American Revolution however, as it involved the formation of a new national identity. Unlike in the US, the entire social and economic order that had been put in place through the practice of plantation slavery in Haiti was transformed.
In contrast to the intense single character focus of his first novel, ¡Ecue-Yamba-O! (Praised Be the Lord!), Carpentier offers a diversified understanding of black society and its beliefs in The Kingdom of This World. There exists remarkable respect for accuracy on all sides including historical facts, character names, place names, and even street names. This adds to the key blend of marvellous fantasy and historical accuracy.
Influences
Other authors
Carpentier was influenced by a number of authors. Jean Price Mars's Ainsi parla l'oncle (So Spoke the Uncle) presents two arguments that Carpentier applied to his historical approach: firstly, from the perspective of a Haitian peasant, the Revolution did nothing more than replace leaders, since the exploitation continued; secondly, Price Mars assumes the authenticity of the belief in African gods, in contrast with a shallow Catholicism. William Seabrook's The Magic Island made connections between religion and history and was considered a beautiful book by Carpentier.
Carpentier was a great admirer of Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, having cited him in a number of different texts throughout his career. The Prologue begins with a quote from Cervantes' Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (Persiles and Sigismunda), which is subsequently mentioned, with a focus on the character of Rutilio. The mention of Rutilio is noteworthy, as the episode has been of interest to critics due to its magical subject matter, concerning lycanthropy. Both works feature a distant and exotic land where the marvellous is present by means of metamorphoses, and viewed from the characters' perspective.
Theatre
Theatre also greatly influenced Alejo Carpentier's work. In all his work, Carpentier uses the characters he creates to explore the notions of subjectivity and identity, analyzing the way in which individuals see themselves and others within cultural settings. In order to achieve such an analysis, Carpentier makes use of spectatorship: his characters perceive a spectacle in alterable ways which parallel their alterable ways of experiencing the world. Spectacle situations are also sometimes used by Carpentier as a tool for the characters to reframe and rethink the world, as well as to establish individual and group identity.
As an example, the execution scene in The Kingdom of This World puts European and autochthonous cultures in opposition through the use of the spectator-performer relationship. In this spectacle situation, Carpentier is able to juxtapose the Europeans' experience of Macandal's body falling into the flames with the autochthonous (Afro-Haitian) experience of Macandal's body flying off the stake. Through the different, mutable views of the performance that he creates, Carpentier is able to represent an unstable cultural identity. As a second example, the scene that Ti Noel constructs around himself after the sacking of the Sans-Souci Palace presents the reader with a dramatic rehearsal in which Ti Noel represents culturally mobile subjectivity by performing different identities on his own.
Carpentier lastly equates the idea of Western theatre with that of a sham through Ti Noel's realization that disguising oneself to assume a role does not lead to community: "As Ti Noel was there in disguise, and did not for a moment consider himself one of the species, he took refuge by himself under his table." Theatre is also undermined when Ti Noel flees with Ruth (his wife and an actress), and in the end is faced with nothing but theatre on her behalf.
Plot summary
Prologue The prologue to the novel is Carpentier's most often quoted text, in which he coins the term lo real maravilloso ("marvellous reality") in reference to seemingly miraculous occurrences in Latin America. Furthermore, his trip to Haiti in 1943 is recounted, as well as some of the research he did to gather facts for the novel. Carpentier also denounces the commonplace and formulaic instances of the marvellous that is found in surrealist novels due to its inorganic and false origins, as opposed to the natural magic that is found in Latin America.
Part One Ti Noel recalls the tales that a fellow slave, Macandal, would regale on the plantation of their master, Lenormand de Mezy. Macandal would tell tales of magical characters and mythical kingdoms with rivers rising in the sky. He is said to not only have irresistible qualities that appeal to black women, but also the ability to captivate men. He suffers an accident in which his left hand is caught in machinery, and his arm is dragged in up to the shoulder. Being useless to his owner, he departs for the mountains and discovers many secret herbs, plants, and fungi that appear to have magical qualities. Ti Noel joins Macandal and both learn about the magical attributes of these natural elements. Macandal suggests that the time has come, and no longer goes to the plantation. After the rain season has passed, Ti Noel meets with him in a cave populated with strange items. Macandal has established contact with surrounding plantations, and gives instructions to ensure the death of cows using secret herbs. The poison spreads, killing livestock by the hundreds as well as Frenchmen, wiping out adults and children. Madame Lenormand de Mezy dies as a result, and the deaths continue with entire families suffering the same fate. At gunpoint, a slave eventually explains that Macandal has superhuman powers and is the Lord of Poison. Death within the plantations returns to normal rates as a result and the Frenchmen return to playing cards and drinking, as months pass with no word of Macandal. Macandal, now with the ability to transform into animal forms, like bird, fish, or insect, visits the plantation to affirm faith in his return. The slaves decide to wait four years for Macandal to complete his metamorphoses and once again become a human. After four years, he returns during a celebration and all present are delighted. The chanting alerts the white men, and preparations are made to capture Macandal. He is captured and tied to a post in order to be lashed and burned in front of massive black crowds, but he escapes, flying overhead, and lands among the crowd. He is again captured and burned, but the slaves are certain that he has been saved by African Gods and return to their plantations, laughing.
Part Two Lenormand de Mezy's second wife has died and the city has made remarkable progress. Henri Christophe is a master chef. Twenty years have gone by and Ti Noel has fathered twelve children by one of the cooks. He has told these children many stories of Macandal and they await his return. A secret gathering of trusted slaves takes place: Bouckman, the Jamaican, speaks of possible freedom for the blacks emerging in France and also mentions the opposition from the plantation landowners. An uprising is planned; as a result of this meeting, conch-shell trumpets sound and slaves, armed with sticks, surround the houses of their masters. Upon hearing the conch-shells Lenormand de Mezy is frightened and manages to hide. The slaves kill the white men and drink much alcohol. Ti Noel, after drinking, rapes Mademoiselle Floridor, who is Lenormand de Mezy's latest mistress. The uprising is defeated and Bouckman is killed. The governor, Blanchelande, advocates for the complete extermination of the colony's black population, as they pose a threat with their voodoo and secret religion. Several of the rebels are gathered to be publicly executed, but Lenormand de Mezy secures the release of his slaves, including Ti Noel, intending to sell them in the slave markets in Cuba. Lenormand de Mezy takes Ti Noel and other slaves to Cuba, where he becomes lazy, conducts no business, enjoys the women, drinks alcohol, and gambles away his slaves. Pauline Bonaparte accompanies Leclerc, her army general husband, to Haiti. On the way there, she enjoys sexually tempting the men on the ship. Solimán, a black slave, massages her body and lavishes loving care on her beauty. Leclerc develops yellow fever, and Pauline trusts in the voodoo and magic of Solimán to cure him. Leclerc dies, and Pauline returns to Paris while the Rochambeau government treats the blacks very poorly. However, there is the emergence of black priests who allow the slaves to conduct more business internally.
Part three