INTERVIEW – How to mix history and fiction? Exchange with novelist Catherine Bardon

2024-03-29T04:11:15.550Z

Highlights: Catherine Bardon has devoted several novels to the Dominican Republic and the great figures who have shaped the country's history. She is Virginie Girod’s guest in “At the Heart of History” An interview in partnership with Les Escales editions which are publishing her latest work, Une femme Debout. In 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the “Persil Massacre” More than 20,000 Haitian nationals working on plantations perished. “An intimacy is created which means that we almost take on the thoughts, the life of the character”.

How do novelists who tackle historical subjects work? How to tell the great History by mixing it with fiction? The writer Catherine Bardon has devoted several novels to the Dominican Republic and the great figures who have shaped the country's history. She is Virginie Girod’s guest in “At the Heart of History”. An interview in partnership with Les Escales editions which are publishing her latest work, Une femme Debout. Catherine Bardon retraces the fight of activist Sonia Pierre to defend Haitian immigrants persecuted in the Dominican Republic. "The form of the novel seems to me the most appropriate for communicating a story and ensuring that the reader appropriates it through characters, through writing that is not as cold or dry as that of a historian" explains the writer. Unlike the historian, the novelist does not rely only on historical sources. She can count on her imagination to fill in the blanks of History and the pages of her books. To write her historical novel about Sonia Pierre, Catherine Bardon tried to paint her psychological portrait, despite the little information she had. “I delved into his life. I delved into his itinerary. I tried to understand the mechanisms that brought him to this fight and that they carried him” says the author. “An intimacy is created which means that we almost take on the thoughts, the life of the character”. The Dominican Republic is one of the favorite settings of Catherine Bardon's novels. At the same time, it must be said that the place has no shortage of stories to tell! A prosperous country, the Dominican Republic occupies half of the island of Hispaniola. Across the border is Haiti, the poorest country in the Caribbean. An atypical and tragic situation. In 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the “Persil Massacre”. More than 20,000 Haitian nationals working on plantations perished. Through the destiny of Sonia Pierre, it is the lasting persecution of Haitian immigrants inherited from the Trujillo dictatorship that is being discussed. Topics covered: Dominican Republic, Haiti, dictatorship, Persil massacre