Graphic novel adaptation of C.L.R. James's play revisits Toussaint Louverture and Haitian Revolution

A new graphic novel adapts C.L.R. James's 1934 play about Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution from 1791 to 1804. Illustrated by Sakina Karimjee and Nic Watts, the book features black-and-white drawings that highlight themes like yellow fever as a natural force against colonizers. Published by Verso at £11.99 in paperback, it joins a broader reassessment of colonial histories, with most referenced works dating post-2000. James, a Trinidad-born Marxist and postcolonial literature pioneer, originally wrote the play after his novel 'Minty Alley' made him the first Black West Indian published in Britain in 1936. Louverture, born enslaved in French Haiti around the mid-18th century, died in a French prison in 1803 before Haiti's independence. The adaptation explores his ideological evolution, including influences from Enlightenment philosopher Guillaume Thomas Raynal, who advocated direct action over theory. It depicts Louverture's pragmatism and alliances with powers like Spain and England, emphasizing self-liberation as central to the revolution's success. The graphic format effectively conveys personal and universal struggles, resonating with contemporary reexaminations of postcolonial narratives.