ITIAHaiti supports licit, teachable, and original writing while advocating innovative poetry.
Channel: ITIAHaiti
Date: 2020-05-13

At a time when Haitian literature is almost dead, contemporary poets think they must revive Haitian letters. In the search for national literary identity, these writers gathered under a literary organization called ITIAHaiti or Innovation of the Terroir by Itiahists for the Advancement of Haiti. Considered the first Haitian literary doctrine of the 21st century, itiahism was born out of a group of committed young writers. They were willing to sacrifice themselves by raising their hands to say no to any form of injustice that occurred during their existence. This movement against injustice was channeled into a literary movement that emerged on July 12, 2008. These young poets created a literary club to encourage poetry and perform plays in the southern Haitian city of Les Cayes. The idea later expanded on social media to give birth to a literary school exalting the Haitian heritage. The primary purpose of ITIAHaiti was to promote the clarity of literature that highlights, translates, and reflects all realities of Haiti. It supports a licit, teachable, and original writing while advocating innovative poetry.

Itiahism believes in the promotion of stylish prose and supports other associations that are working for the development of Haitian culture. His theorists aim to make the territory their inspirational source. Itiahists use their pen to paint their country’s beauty and to focus on various facets of their society. According to them, social nuances and cohesion are the ingredients which will make Haiti truly beautiful and project the depth of its history. Itiahism gleans ideas from the moral atmosphere to synchronize the natives with their homeland. Their philosophy of self-reliance elevates human beings as the god of his heaven and the honey of his bee to empower the true meaning of existence. Its doctrine of making men and women the materials of their masterpiece binds all literary and philosophical concepts of the centuries, which question the ecstasy of surreal. The history of itiahism is entirely inseparable from Haiti, whence it comes. It synchronizes with the first independent Negro Republic in the world, the condition of an actual pirated sovereignty and the future of a powerful country. Itiahism teaches pragmatism and self-reliance as the best avenues to Haiti’s success.

Itiahism would surely be acceptable if it had immediate consequence the action of eliminating from history the intruders of philosophies. Also, all doctrines, their manners, and customs which make, on the one hand, the basis of the Haitian belief and on the other hand, the power to globalize Haitian creole as revolutionary language. Any different culture cannot influence Itiahists; they fight to promote their works everywhere in the world. Their externalizations exert on each faculty like spirit on flesh. They are oriented towards the right way so that they do not astray. Writers of this doctrine do not quarrel; these patriots are synthetics, focus, and aesthetic. They speak less and say more. This theory tends to defend typical Haitian literature that focuses on universality. It is a form of militancy that is considered a weapon against the devastating powers that plunge the country into intellectual chaos. Haiti’s sons and daughters have to go into exile in search of primary needs because of that tyranny system. The youth, the dominant force, the energy, and the seed of this ancestral land lose interest in their own culture. Itiahists are fighters to the extreme for freedom and the scrupulous respect of the human being. The ideal of itiahism can be summed up thus: the promotion of Haitian people through radical change and meaningful progress.

For the Itiahists, defending their cultural identity is one of the winning strategies, in addition to educating and engaging the elite to save their homeland. Itiahism describes the misery of a zombie people of their period through their works and exalting the beauty of what remains right. This psychological asset is used to motivate this great nation to take up its torch at last. Thus, these enthusiasts are alarmed to awaken poetry, restore the landscapes, sing their country, and make their pens a therapy for the traumatized and an assault against the corrupt leaders. Itiahism is neither a poem, nor a play, nor a novel either. Being creative, the Itiahists adapt their style and are free in their works. Itiahists build, advise, and transform without only destroying, blaming, or distorting. They do not just protest but propose new ideas, and undresses while caressing. Itiahism lays a bridge between a neglected past and an alarming present to build the future of Haitian society by harmonizing and perfecting everything.

Wilson Thelimo Louis, President.