Orality as Inheritance in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!

Abstract

Living in the United States as an immigrant from Haiti since the age of twelve, Edwidge Danticat understands the hardships that come with being considered an outsider. This results in Danticat representing both Haitian and Haitian-American oral traditions in her writing of Krik? Krak!, which is seen through her use of a variety of storytelling techniques and traditions, such as call and response and Axel Olrik's epic laws of oral folk narrative. The presence of these techniques in "Night Women" and "Caroline's Wedding" results in a comparison of the importance of orality in Haiti and America. Through the use of these storytelling traditions and the comparison of Haiti and America in both these stories, Danticat presents orality as a means of escaping present-day reality and preserving the past, which together create a cultural inheritance for the individual characters and strengthen one's sense of self and sense of community; thus Danticat draws attention to the role orality plays for individuals struggling with being an outsider both within and outside of one's home. Since the discovery of Haiti in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, the Haitian people have been struggling with dehumanization and poverty. This has resulted in a cultural emphasis of orality as a means of survival. When Danticat was born in Haiti in 1969, Haiti was being run under a dictatorship. Nonetheless, when looking at the stories in Krik? Krak!, it scarcely matters when in Haiti's history it took place, for Haiti has never had genuine self-determining governance. The Haitian people have always suffered from extreme violence, oppression and poverty, whether from outside forces or Haitian rulers. This results in Haitians feeling like outsiders in their own homes. Therefore, even though