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Abina And The Important Men Trouillot Analysis

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Is the history that we read valid or are we only learning what they want us to learn? Do the powerless not have a word when the past is documented? Have we been lied to all of our lives? Philosopher and historian Michel-Rolph Trouillot may just make you believe this way. “Trouillot says that history is an act of silencing in which those without power are silenced and those with power are able to speak.” (Abina, 78) He believes that some viewpoints of the past were never recorded as actual documents and the minorities like the illiterates, powerless, and poor were never heard. Trouillot wondered why it is fair that some people get to choose what information is important enough to write about and what gets left in the past. I personally do agree with the statement made by Trouillot. In comparison, I have always wondered this exact question on pieces of the past that were written before there was even a printing press invented. For example, the bible was always questioned in my opinion because whoever was copying it could include their …show more content…

Abina and the Important Men is just a representation of Abina’s story. According to Michel-Rolph, “The exploration of the issues of representation and translation continue our theme of relationship between power and knowledge in the writing of history…” (Abina 140) She was never given the chance to actually use her own accent. Others may argue the fact by saying that her story was valued because of court documentation, but that is the clerk’s value of the story. (Abina 137) Abina’s story cannot be heard first hand because she was illiterate. Likewise, any other information coming from her could have been lost in language translation. Although historians that write these stories may be highly educated, we cannot necessarily accept their veracity of their facts because it is not first hand information and can be altered -especially over

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