A Tale of Two Islands: Colonialism and Slavery in the Caribbean

 

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This paper looks at two source documents from the colonial period of the Caribbean. Both documents reflect upon colonization, in general, and specifically the issue of slavery its effects. The first source is the paper “Discourse on Colonialism” by Aimé Césaire. The second is a speech given by Moses Bon Sàam. Césaire was a poet from the French colonial island of Martinique in the early 20^th century, who would later serve in various posts including mayor of the town of Fort-de-France.[1] Bon Sàam was a former slave on the island of Jamaica in the early 18^th century who had escaped slavery and led a group of former slaves in the interior of the island determined to create their own society free of British colonialism.[2] While these discourses were promulgated nearly two hundred years apart, Césaire’s work discusses the ideology of the effects of colonialism and slavery while Sàam’s speech gives us direct insight into those same issues. It is for this reason that these sources are discussed here as they shed light on both an intellectual analysis of the issue of slavery as well as a first-hand account that speaks directly to that analysis. Both sources discuss themes of the effects of colonialism on both the colonialist as well as the slave, the issue of religion as a raison d’être for colonialism and slavery, and the conditions of slavery that were endured, both physically and mentally.

            Césaire begins his discourse with a discussion of the effects of colonialism and slavery on the colonialist. He describes this idea of civilization as being based on the “principles of treachery and deceit.”[3]  Colonialism has the effects on colonialist of decivilizing him, brutalizing

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him, and degrading him. He sees in the colonialist the byproducts of being involved in the slave trade as bringing to the fore characteristics that are the worst of human instincts, that of covetousness, violence, race hatred, and moral relativism.[4] He holds harsher criticisms for the emerging humanism that attempts to reverse slavery, which he coins “pseudo-humanism.”[5] These attempts are both incomplete and biased; based on ideas that in themselves are deeply racist. Slavery-based colonialism is rooted in a culture of domination and submission. All colonial activity, enterprise, and conquest finds it’s source in the contempt of the native. That is to say, the dominating culture sees the dominated as an animal and not as a human. The dominated begin to see themselves as less than human. As Bon Sàam states, he is but “a Wretch, among Wretches.”[6] He continues about the wrongs committed against the Negroes, but pointedly mentions one effect on himself. Like Césaire’s description of how slavery turns the hearts of the colonialist, Bon Sàam describes how his own heart was “deaden’d against Pity.”[7] Not only does the slaver succumb to baser emotions, but the slave as well, hardening his own emotions against the suffering of his people.

            In pursuing reasons for the extensive colonialism of European powers, as well as the burgeoning imperialism of the United States, Césaire strikes against the oft-used idea of God and religion. For him, this idea of colonial civilization is not evangelization, and it is not for the “greater glory of God.”[8] Colonialism is about economics. Colonization and slavery are for the

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benefit of the merchant, the grocer, the ship owner, and the gold digger. Religion and God are often used as an inspirational idea to justify actions. But ultimately, these are not the true reasons for the activities. Césaire claims that it is the “competition of antagonistic economies” that fuels the colonial drive, that leads men to force slavery and harsh labor upon other men.[9] In Bon Sàam’s speech, he recognizes that there is a disconnect between what the colonialists say about their God, and what their actions reveal. To quote directly, he poignantly muses:

“What Preference, in the Name of that mysterious God, whom These Insulters of Our Colour pretend to worship…”[10]

Bon Sàam speaks directly about the God that he himself discovered in “The Holiest of All Books,”[11] that is to say, the Christian Bible. He notes that the story of his namesake, Moses, finds the greatest moment in its history that of the emancipation of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. How can it be that the Christian people, following a God who rescues from slavery, can enslave others?

            Bon Sàam points out the lingering effects of slavery, beyond that of the current generation. Significantly, the children and grandchildren of slaves, who will be either born into slavery, or suffer from the legacy of slavery. He reinforces the idea that they are leading a revolt, to throw off the shackles of British colonialism, and live in the manner which they choose to live. As Césaire points out, millions of slaves have been torn from their native lands. They were

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separated from “their gods, their land, their habits, and their life.”[12] These individuals were instilled with an inferiority complex, where they learned to tremble, to kneel, and to despair.[13] For Césaire, returning to Africa was not an option for the freed slaves. Their native lands were now an exotic location. As Bon Sàam realized, the former slaves had to make themselves a new society. “Let us rather study to Support our new Liberty, than revenge our past Slavery.”[14] Césaire knew that freedom could only come at the hands of the former slaves, not from white Europeans or Americans. Bon Sàam also knew this and surrounded himself with those who could form their own new civilization.

            While Césaire and Bon Sàam were writing and speaking nearly two hundred years apart, the former learning lessons from French colonialism and fighting off American imperialism, and the latter rebelling against British colonialism, the insights are similar in their introspection and as critique of colonial slavery. Both individuals knew and commented on the need for free Negroes to work towards building a new society. They also both knew and commented on the effects of slavery on the slave, the slaver, and the generations to come.

 

 

 

 

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Bibliography

Bon Sàam, Moses. “Speech before Free Negroes.” Jamaica, January 10, 1735. Trans. by Kate Nicoletti. The Prompter.

Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation.

Hale, Thomas A. “Aimé Césaire: A Bio-Bibliographical Note.” Callaloo, no. 17 (1983): 134–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/3044019.

 Hoffmann, León-François. “An Eighteenth-Century Exponent of Black Power: Moses Bon Sàam.” Caribbean Studies 15, no. 3 (1975): 149–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25612714.

 

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[1] Hale, Thomas A. “Aimé Césaire: A Bio-Bibliographical Note.” Callaloo, no. 17 (1983): 134–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/3044019.

 

[2] Hoffmann, León-François. “An Eighteenth-Century Exponent of Black Power: Moses Bon Sàam.” Caribbean Studies 15, no. 3 (1975): 149–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25612714.

 

[3] Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation. Pg. 211.

[4] Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation. Pg. 213.

[5] Ibid. Pg. 214.

[6] Bon Sàam, Moses. “Speech before Free Negroes.” Jamaica, January 10, 1735. Trans. by Kate Nicoletti. The Prompter.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation. Pg. 212.

[9] Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation. Pg. 212.

[10]Bon Sàam, Moses. “Speech before Free Negroes.” Jamaica, January 10, 1735. Trans. by Kate Nicoletti. The Prompter.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation. Pg. 217.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Bon Sàam, Moses. “Speech before Free Negroes.” Jamaica, January 10, 1735. Trans. by Kate Nicoletti. The Prompter.

Poetry Amidst Prose: The Song of Deborah in Context

 

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            The Song of Deborah can be found in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew bible. It comes immediately after the prose narrative of chapter 4 which recounts the Israelites doing battle with the Canaanites of Hazor, and the actions taken by the prophetess Deborah as well as Barak, the son of Abinoam. The text of chapter 4 discusses how the Israelites were delivered into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, because they had again done “what was offensive to the LORD.”[1] The following chapter, chapter 5, recounts the entirety of the Song of Deborah, and the next, chapter 6, tells the story of the Israelites being delivered into the hands of the Midianites, again for doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD. The Song of Deborah, then, is a poem that is inserted between two prose narratives telling two different, yet similar stories. Yet, it is not a song of praise, as many biblical poems are. Many scholars refer to it as a victory hymn. While there are components of the Song that like those of a victory hymn, in its entirety, it is made up of much more. The Song of Deborah is a re-telling of the prose story found immediately before it in chapter 4 of Judges. Many scholars have found the Song to have components leading to a very early date of composition. There are clues that the Song may have been used to write portions of the Psalms. It is clear that the Song of Deborah is an archaic composition utilizing old poetic forms that was designed to relate the story of Deborah and Barak with a theological purpose.[2]

            The Song of Deborah has been classified by some as a “narrative battle poem.”[3] That is to say, as mentioned previously, a poem that tells a narrative story. If it is a narrative battle

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poem, it would be one of only two in the Hebrew bible, the other being the Song of the Sea found in Exodus 15.[4] In its archaic and sweeping form, parallels can be drawn to the Greek choral odes or the Anglo-Saxon epic. It is “stirring, evocative, and rhetorically powerful.”[5] However, poetry in the Hebrew bible is varied in form and composition. The Song of Deborah does not claim to be historical narrative, although it does re-tell the historical narrative of the preceding chapter.[6] Instead, the poem is intended as a theological restructuring of the battle that ensues this day as an exemplar of battles and as instruction to the Israelites of their faithful God, even when they were not faithful.[7] The Song does not follow specific poetic parameters, and events are linked sometimes illogically. The repetition and parallelism in the Song of Deborah, something often found in both Hebrew prose and poetry, is of an archaic nature.[8] Gerleman believes that the repetition and form of the Song are aimed at a “psychological foundation” that glorifies “warlike propaganda” and “religious fanaticism.”[9] Whether instructional or fanatical, there is no doubt that the Song is stirring emotionally, filled with figurative language with the call to the Israelites to come together to defeat their enemy.

            Components of the Song of Deborah indicate it is quite old in composition. This is based primarily on some of the language used in the text. However, there are other clues within the text

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that lead us to believe this to be the case. For example, the calling out of village militias to come together to fight this battle contrasts with the standing armies of the tenth century BCE.[10] Deborah relies on the mutual defense provided by the tribes coming together in times of need. In the song, Deborah laments those tribes who failed to act. Not all of the tribes sent warriors to fight. The text rhetorically asks why they did not but does not continue to provide context. The economic picture portrayed in the poem is also an indicator of an earlier composition of the text rather than later, fitting in more with an Iron Age I setting.[11] Another clue can be found in the somewhat obscure text of verse 2. Some texts translate this as “When locks go untrimmed in Israel.”[12] Another version has this as “When men let grow their hair in Israel.” Nonetheless, according to Koller, this practice of letting one’s hair grow long before battle occurs in the Hebrew bible only here and in the ancient poem of Deuteronomy 32:42.[13] Within the Song, in verses 4-5, we encounter a short victory ode, within which is found a short Theophany, or series of cosmic events:

            “The earth trembled;

             The heavens dripped,

             Yea, the clouds dripped water,

             The mountains quaked- “[14]

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It has been noted that the text here is almost identical to that of Psalms 68:8-9 and it is thought that the author of the Psalms already knew the Song of Deborah and incorporated this into Psalm 68.[15]

            Biblical poetry is not always easy to identify and less easy to translate. From the western mind, the poetry of the Hebrew bible is vastly different from what has come down to us in the forms of Greek and Latin poetry. The use of form and meter is paramount to identifying and understanding Hebrew poems. Our job is made easier by the use of biblical verse, as we have it now. There is a rhythmic, semantic, and structural significance to it.[16] In the Masoretic text, a variety of spatial, columnar, and lineal formats were used to designate poetry, making it easier to understand and read.[17] For those reading versions translated into English or other languages, we do not have use of these helpers. The language of the Song of Deborah is stamped by an archaic quality and brevity which makes its meaning not easily intelligible.[18] Coogan believes that the text places two sets of emphasis: one on the actions of God and one on the actions of Deborah.[19] Yahweh’s power, described mythically in the theophany of verses 4-5 are revealed in history in

 

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the actions of a woman.[20] Like Knight, Coogan sees the Song as having a theological message rather than a historical one.[21] In addition, Coogan notes the following patterns throughout the Song of Deborah:

1.      Alliteration: Parallel elements such as bese’tak…besa’dak and mahaqah…mahasa.

2.      Paronomasia: Such as in the coupling of Deborah with dabberi.

3.      Repetitive Parallelism.[22]

These patterns are often found in both biblical Hebrew prose as well as poetry, however they remain identifying elements that help to conceptualize what exactly biblical poetry is.

The Song of Deborah has been described as “a primitive, unconscious type, naive, spontaneous art.”[23] But, as Knight points out, poetry is not “monolithic.”[24] Perhaps it is this naïve, spontaneous nature that makes the Song appealing and timeless. Certainly, the Song of Deborah is unique among biblical literature. It is important to remember that the composition is a song.[25] Too often we forget about the oral tradition that came before the stories were written down. As beautiful as they are in written form, how much more were they in spoken form. In its

 

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form as historical narrative, the Song of Deborah could be compared with others in the Bible, as stated previously in Exodus 15 or Deuteronomy 32. But the Song is unlike others in so many ways. The poem is far from a simple victory song or an emotional outcry. The poetic narrative in Judges 5 is a crucial part of the whole story and can be seen as the theological and hermeneutical core of Judges.[26] Regardless of how we analyze the Song of Deborah, it is clear that the poem is archaic in nature and of a style and form found nowhere else in the Hebrew bible. While it would be tempting to label the song as a Victory Hymn or a Battle Hymn, it may be best to leave it in a category all its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bibliography

Coogan, Michael David. “A Structural and Literary Analysis of the Song of Deborah.” The

Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40, no. 2 (1978): 143–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43714562

Dobbs-Allsopp, F.W. On Biblical Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Gerleman, Gillis. “The Song of Deborah in the Light of Stylistics.” Vetus Testamentum 1, no. 3

 (1951): 168–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/1515859

Knight, Michelle. “The Rational Poet: Appealing to the Heart and the Mind in the Book of

Judges.” The Biblical Mind (August 12, 2020).

https://hebraicthought.org/book-of-judges-poetic-appeal-heart-mind/

Koller, Aaron. "Composing the Song of Deborah: Empirical Models" TheTorah.com (2020).

https://thetorah.com/article/composing-the-song-of-deborah-empirical-models

 

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[1] Judg. 4:1, JSB, 2^nd Ed.

[2] Knight, Michelle. “The Rational Poet: Appealing to the Heart and the Mind in the Book of Judges.” The Biblical Mind (August 12, 2020). https://hebraicthought.org/book-of-judges-poetic-appeal-heart-mind/

 

[3] Koller, Aaron. "Composing the Song of Deborah: Empirical Models" TheTorah.com (2020). https://thetorah.com/article/composing-the-song-of-deborah-empirical-models

 

[4] Koller, Aaron. "Composing the Song of Deborah: Empirical Models" TheTorah.com (2020). https://thetorah.com/article/composing-the-song-of-deborah-empirical-models

 

[5] Knight, Michelle. “The Rational Poet: Appealing to the Heart and the Mind in the Book of Judges.” The Biblical Mind (August 12, 2020). https://hebraicthought.org/book-of-judges-poetic-appeal-heart-mind/

 

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Gerleman, Gillis. “The Song of Deborah in the Light of Stylistics.” Vetus Testamentum 1, no. 3 (1951): 170-171. https://doi.org/10.2307/1515859

 

[9] Ibid, 174.

[10] Koller, Aaron. "Composing the Song of Deborah: Empirical Models" TheTorah.com (2020). https://thetorah.com/article/composing-the-song-of-deborah-empirical-models

 

[11] Ibid.

[12] Judg. 5:2, JSB, 2^nd Ed.

[13] Koller, Aaron. "Composing the Song of Deborah: Empirical Models" TheTorah.com (2020). https://thetorah.com/article/composing-the-song-of-deborah-empirical-models

 

[14] Judg. 5:4-5, JDB, 2^nd Ed.

[15] Coogan, Michael David. “A Structural and Literary Analysis of the Song of Deborah.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40, no. 2 (1978): 143–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43714562

 

[16] Dobbs-Allsopp, F.W. On Biblical Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 22.

[17] Ibid, 29-30.

[18] Gerleman, Gillis. “The Song of Deborah in the Light of Stylistics.” Vetus Testamentum 1, no. 3 (1951): 168–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/1515859

 

[19] Coogan, Michael David. “A Structural and Literary Analysis of the Song of Deborah.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40, no. 2 (1978): 143–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43714562

 

[20] . Coogan, Michael David. “A Structural and Literary Analysis of the Song of Deborah.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40, no. 2 (1978): 143–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43714562

 

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Gerleman, Gillis. “The Song of Deborah in the Light of Stylistics.” Vetus Testamentum 1, no. 3 (1951): 168–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/1515859

[24] Knight, Michelle. “The Rational Poet: Appealing to the Heart and the Mind in the Book of Judges.” The Biblical Mind (August 12, 2020). https://hebraicthought.org/book-of-judges-poetic-appeal-heart-mind/

 

[25] Ibid.

[26] Knight, Michelle. “The Rational Poet: Appealing to the Heart and the Mind in the Book of Judges.” The Biblical Mind (August 12, 2020). https://hebraicthought.org/book-of-judges-poetic-appeal-heart-mind/

 

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#MayThe4thBeWithYou

Basilica of Saint-Denis

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Basilica of Saint-Denis