Popo and Fifina

Popo and Fifina is an endearing story of a lower-class Haitian family moving from the countryside to the city of Cap-Haitien. The titular characters, Popo and Fifina, are two siblings who experience the move in lyrical prose and unadorned respect for the lifestyle of those Haitians without shoes. Partly inspired by the three month stay of Langston Hughes in Cap-Haitien, this is a very realistic account of a family in the city sometime during the US Occupation (1915-1934). The woodworking, colors and games of the city, the lives of fisherman, and last, but certainly not least, allusions to Haitian popular culture are rooted in reality. There's even a scene featuring music and laughter in the countryside (amba tonnel) where the extended family of Mamma Anna lives.

Since the short novel is directed toward children, there is little overt references to politics or opposition to the US Marines. However, one amusing instance in the tale features a kite symbolizing the USSR defeating a kite with a hawk (presumably representing the US), which clearly reflects the leftist sympathies of Hughes rather than Bontemps. Bontemps, like Hughes, also praised the cultural practices and lives of the black masses, a shared interest that permeates this book. Moreover, the text subtly alludes to Haitian popular culture and religion in a way that validates the lives of these hard-working peasants and urban working-class Haitians.

This no doubt reflects the observations of Hughes during his time in Haiti, one where Hughes saw the racist boot of US Occupation stomping on Haitian sovereignty, but also the classist world wrought by the "mulatto" elite against the interests of the black-skinned majority of Haitians. In my opinion, Hughes exaggerated the importance of color in explaining class difference, yet Popo and Fifina largely ignores class (except for occasional references to the homes of the well-to-do, who can afford lavish designs on furniture, running water, and shoes) or allusions to the US Marines except for the private beach they use.