In the movie Royal Bonbon's opening scene, a homeless middle-aged demented black man named Chacha wanders his way around the Carénage in Cap-Haitian. Then the character strolls the streets of the city begging for food and annoying people. He’s a “moun fou”. The female street vendors - the “ti machan” - kick him away, angered by his apparent vulgarity. Chacha undergoes an amazing epiphany and, declaring himself “King Chacha”, recruits a young child and leaves Cap. His hallucinatory dream turns into reality when he arrives to Milot and claims to be King Henri Christophe reincarnated. More children and a bunch of old people join him to take possession of the ruins of the Sans-Souci palace. Then he distributes honors and titles to set up a weird aristocracy.
In Alejo Carpentier’s novel “The Kingdom of this World”, after the looting of Sans-Souci, the main character – Ti Noel - takes refuge in the ruins of his old master’s house. With a strange and beautiful, albeit useless, variety of spoils from the palace, the character rebuilds a makeshift personal kingdom, while awarding honorific titles to the passersby.
The real life fact is this: General Henri Chistophe crowned himself King of Haiti in 1811 and imposed a Constitution that very same year, creating hereditary titles for four Princes, eight Dukes, 22 Counts, 37 Barons and 14 Chevaliers.
In Alejo Carpentier’s novel “The Kingdom of this World”, after the looting of Sans-Souci, the main character – Ti Noel - takes refuge in the ruins of his old master’s house. With a strange and beautiful, albeit useless, variety of spoils from the palace, the character rebuilds a makeshift personal kingdom, while awarding honorific titles to the passersby.
The real life fact is this: General Henri Chistophe crowned himself King of Haiti in 1811 and imposed a Constitution that very same year, creating hereditary titles for four Princes, eight Dukes, 22 Counts, 37 Barons and 14 Chevaliers.
