Rire sous presse en Haïti : le cas du Cancanier (1841)

Abstract

This study will analyse the literary specificities of Le Cancanier, a satirical newspaper founded in Haiti in 1841, and reflect on the role played by this publication in the journalistic field of the time. In a cultural context in the process of formation and strongly influenced by the French model, Le Cancanier uses the “rire petite presse” which was increasingly widespread under the July Monarchy. Its weapons – such as the charge verbale, the blague, the supercherie littéraire –, the fruit of a renewed conception of comedy, are adapted to the context of reception. They are mobilised to fuel polemics and to participate, in an eccentric and provocative manner, in a cultural and political debate, the contours of which we will try to outline.

Keywords

• 19th century Haitian press. Comedy. Granier de Cassagnac. Le Cancanier. Satirical press. Theatre criticism