Chapter 4
In search of home
Fear and the dream of belonging in Leonora Sansay’s Secret History; or, the Horrors of St.
Domingo (1808)
Secret History tells the story of two sisters, Mary and Clara, who have joined
Clara’s husband as he attempts to regain his lost colonial possessions in the final period of the Haitian Revolution.
In contrast to the frights she experiences in war-ridden Saint-Domingue, Mary dreams longingly of a stable home. This
chapter analyzes the novel’s dichotomy of horrifying fear and happy dreams on the level of figurative language,
composition, and literary geography. It argues that Secret History engages with the specific
challenge of forging a North-American cultural identity. The chapter also explores Sansay’s use of the sentimental
mode, showing that it is used to interrogate the humanity of friends and foes, enslaved and free.
Article outline
- I.What authors wrote about when they wrote about Haiti
- II.Sentimental communities, personal and political
- III.Frenchmen, the enslaved and the limits of community
- Conclusion: Haiti, the United States, and … Ireland
- Author queries
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Notes
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References
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