The imagined face: representations of the Haitian community

In this paper I propose to show the links that exist between, on the one hand, the representations of popular culture made by the most representative members of the enlightened classs in Haiti, and on the other, the naive painters, Haiti's famous sons. In spite of the notable differences that exist in their cultural formation, both groups shared common ideas with respect to the role that was played by certain elements of Haitian popular culture, such as oral tradition, Creole, and Voudou psyche, in consolidating the perception Haitians developed of themselves as members of a national community. As we shall see, this emblematic process of exploration of the national identity took place during one of the most difficult periods in Haitian history: 1915-1934, the years when the United States first occupied Toussaint Louverture's country in the 20 th century.