Conclusion: Interlocutory Cultures

Abstract

The conclusion considers the relations between and across the key moments in the chapters explored in this book. In particular, it explores the dynamic of vacillating ideas about Haiti over time; the way in which Haiti both faded but also returned at certain points to take up a burning relevance in the British imagination. This dynamic relied, the chapter argues, on the agency of Haitians in presenting their views to British counterparts in the face of efforts to ‘silence’ or otherwise disregard Haitian ideas. The chapter conceptualises this pattern of fading and return through the theoretical paradigm of spectrality. Much like ideas about Haiti, the spectre always has the potential to return with a burning significance. The chapter ends by gesturing forwards and meditating, briefly, on key events in the twentieth century, namely the invasion of Haiti in 1915 and the emergence of anti-colonial pan-Africanism.