25606: Honorat: (reply) Re: 25598: Bob Corbett (ASK) Aristide's famous "Pere Lebrun" speech. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: stanley honorat <s_honorat@yahoo.com>

I don't know if this will help, but there are no specific references to pere
lebrun in the speech, but in paragraphs 7-9 (and elsewhere in the speech), when
he says "don't hesitate, give him what he deserves", it is said to be a veiled
reference to the practice.

There are two factors that are important in the understanding of something 
like this.  First, there are the linguistic nuances which can't 
necessarily be carried over in translation.  reading a speech like this in 
french/creole as opposed to english will give a different sense to the 
words.

second, there is the historical context in which the words were uttered.
without too much detail, i'd like to mention that aristide had just returned to
haiti from the united nations, and this speech was a follow-up to one he had
given before his departure.

furthermore, the paragragh copied below:

-What a beautiful tool! What a beautiful instrument! What a beautiful piece of
equipment! It's beautiful, yes it's beautiful, it's cute, it's pretty, it has a
good smell, wherever you go you want to inhale it. Since the law of the country
says Macoute isn't in the game, whatever happens to  him he deserves, he came
looking for trouble.-  is, in the minds of many, a clear discription of 
pere lebrun.

stanley