Jacques Roumain and Dany Laferrière: the impact of the return, the absence of water and the hunger in Senhores do orvalho and País sem chapéu

Abstract

Senhores do orvalho (2022) and País sem chapéu (2011), works written by Haitian writers Jacques Roumain and Dany Laferrière, gained greater emphasis in the scenario of readings of francophone works of the Brazilian public after the 2010 earthquake, in which he is faced with a Haitian migration flow in the Brazilian territory. In these novels, about fifty years away from their releases, memory and experience lead to reflect on the impact of the return to the native country, which unveil misery as a byproduct of power relations. Thus, focusing on the return of the protagonists, Manuel and Vieux Os, this article traces a reflection on the absence of water, which leads to a rather profound socio-environmental crisis, as well as hunger as a political process, and not as a natural phenomenon.