Mawonaj (Haïti)

The use of allusion and metaphor is typical of the way Haòtians speak and is part of mawonaj, which is the Haòtian cultural practice that got its name from the “maroons,” the runaway slaves on many Caribbean islands, including Haïti and Jamaica. The term “Maroon” is derived from the Spanish cimarrón (runaway slave), and in turn from simarron, which is a word for “stray arrow” that Cuba's Taíno people used for their own escapees from Spanish enslavement.

Only about half of Haïti's adults can read and write, usually in Kreyôl (Haòtian Creole), which is the mother tongue of all Haòtians but only was made an official language in 1987. Despite Kreyôl's legal legitimacy and prevalence, most of Haïti's printed words—in books, newspapers, and government documents—are in French, which is spoken by only a tiny elite confined to a few coastal cities. Fully 80% to 90% of the population remains monolingual.

Ironically, the tongue that evolved out of French and some West African languages so the French could command their slaves has also been a revolutionary communication tool. Speaking or writing Kreyôl can be an act of resistance in and of itself. Because speaking French is essential to social promotion, political actors, artists, or journalists who use Kreyôl are doing more than merely communicating with the historically excluded popular masses. They are also resisting the centuries-old status quo.

Haïti's culture of resistance and yearning for freedom is heard over and over at the most popular level of the Kreyôl language in songs, stories, and proverbs. Proverbs are full of critical social commentary via allusions, metaphors, symbols, and coded messages. They show how most of Haïti's people—who, more than two centuries after the slave army wrested freedom from the French masters in a bloody revolution and founded the world's first black republic, remain as impoverished as their forefathers—are well aware of the unfair class and “race” relations in their country.

Some examples are as follows: pale franse pa lespri (speaking French doesn't mean you're smart); Konstitisyon se papye, bayonèt se fè (the constitution is paper, the bayonet is steel); bourik travay, chwal galonnen (the donkey works, the horse gallivants); bay kou, bliye—pote mak, sonje (the hitter forgets—the scarred one remembers); rayi chyen, di dan li blan (hate the dog, praise its white teeth); and kreyon pèp la pa genm gonm (the people's pencil has no eraser). This last proverb originally referred to “God's pencil,” but during the 1986–1990 democratic and popular movement, “the people” replaced “God” as the one who remembers injustices.

Not surprisingly, none of these examples explicitly attack the powerful. The stand-in for the military regime is the bayonet, “speaking French” stands in for the bourgeoisie, and animals are often used as proxies for class relations.

Mawonaj is an unspectacular, slow, and patient form of communication activism that seeks out autonomous moments to reflect socially on injustice, privilege, and naked power. Political speeches, proverbs, story tales, graffiti, painted murals, theater, and sometimes even newscasts are full of puns, allusion, and double meanings, especially during periods of political repression.

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