BOOK
REVIEW: WHY THE COCKS FIGHT BY MICHELE WUCKER
Kenneth
Pierre
Dr. Cocozzelli
Gov
4993
March 24th 2017
In this book Michele Wucker
uses the animalistic behavior of cocks to define the fated relationship between
Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Much of the book creates a very vivid imagery
of roosters during pre cock fight, cock fight, and post cock fight. What starts
off almost as a narrative continues to a fatal-conflict approach backed by
historical context between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Wucker starts the beginning of the book with
almost no inherent discussion of what her basis is for viewing the relationship
between the Dominican Republic and Haiti as a fated relationship. What it
begins with is a visual interpretation of what a cock fight would look and feel
like. What occurs in between the narrative of these fights are spotty
assertions made by Wucker.
At times they attempt to
create clarity like on page 142 where it says “The citizens of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic suffer when political fights break out far above them, for
conflict at the top usually means there is less of everything” (Wucker 142). But other times they are even less informative
and almost overtly opinionated like in chapter one when Wucker attempts to
formulate a metaphor saying “Like politics on Hispaniola, the cock fight is a
male ritual… in myth as in politics, women are thought of as standing by and
supporting, not going to battle” (Wucker 6).
While neither of the two
seem to parallel, both statements are a fair representation of the word choice
used by Wucker. What is not bulky historical information about Christopher
Columbus reaching the West Indies or violence towards the Haitians under
President Trujillo is vague and romanticized phenomena of cockfighting. Wucker
goes so far as to include set of characters within the cock fight such as “Papa
Loko, whose African ancestor was a wind and tree spirit” (Wucker xi).
There are a couple of
fallacies that should be noted when analyzing Wucker’s approach. The first
fallacy is a double edged sword and that is her choice of approach. By using a
fatal-conflict approach Wucker led the reader through partisan conclusions
stemming from a notably violent recollection of Dominican-Haitian relations.
While this isn’t necessarily bad in terms of general reading, it is
counterproductive in methodologically.
Using fatal conflict approach can corner a
theorist into using a lot of historical context as the primary base of their
argument. This poses a bigger issue because the Dominican Republic and Haiti
are two separate countries. Both speak different languages; both have different
social class structures, both have different government systems, and both face
starkly different developmental challenges in the near and far future.
These issues alone make it at
the very least, cumbersome for anyone to approximately identify a clear
relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti without any
misinterpretation. One thing that Wucker
properly asserts is that the two countries have cultural friction. However,
by going about it in a fatal conflict approach, Wucker’s conclusions bordered a
more abstract and less fitting methodological approach for the two nations as a
whole.
Had her argument followed an
institutional approach I feel that Wucker would not have had to focus so much
on historical information. I also feel that she would not have had to parallel
outside information with her conceptual representation of cockfighting. Seeing
the way Wucker used her methodological approach has definitely given me insight
on what to avoid in my research paper.
Based on her approach I was
easily able to claw out fallacies that could have been avoided had she picked
an approach more conducive to the situation between Haiti and the Dominican
Republic. Ironically, I was planning on using a path dependency approach for my
proposal, which explains historical information chronologically in order to
formulate an argument.
This approach would have
been similar in some ways to the fatal conflict approach used by Wucker in Why
Cocks Fight. It would also have been difficult for me not to harp on the
violent history between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately had a
stuck with an approach like path dependency, it wouldn’t give me the range
necessary to better formulate an argument for the relationship between Haiti
and the Dominican Republic.
In many ways my arguments
would end up sounding choppy which could give the improper signal to the reader
that I may not have done adequate research to effectively analyze the situation
between both countries. But now that I
know what to avoid, I feel a little more confident about how I plan on
approaching my final proposal. This is because I have a better idea of what
makes an effective institutional argument.
For example, what remains
factual is that neither Haiti nor the Dominican Republic is solely responsible
for the institutional outcome of the other. And what Wucker does not effectively explain
is that both nations have intentionally embodied their own separate racial identities. By embodying identities separate from one
another institutions in the Dominican Republic’s were affected differently from
institutions in Haiti. This is expected being that neither countries are
virtually the same.
From there I plan on
evaluating the institutions in both countries from not just a national scale
but an international one as well. By analyzing the way that other nations react
and interact with Haiti and the Dominican Republic based on the intentionally
established racial identity of their institutions, a much more concise
conclusion can be reached. And doing so
will better explain why there have been an array of interactions between Haiti
and the Dominican Republic; some of which intending to damage the other, and
some of which intending to assist the other.
There is no solid evidence that
both institutions of both nations have been vehemently focused on wiping out
the other. What made Why Cocks Fight most frustrating for me as a reader is
that Wucker paints a very blood-thirsty demeanor about the relations between
the two nations and uses the nature of cockfighting as a veil to cover up many
of her loosely stated assertions.
For example in page … she
states “Haiti is a place where reality sometimes seems far away. To explain
their world, Haitians often speak in proverbs, translating their daily life
into symbols and images rather than attempting the impossible task of
dissecting it” (Wucker 10). By her creating a blanket statement, it allows her
to constantly validate the significance of cockfighting as it pertains to symbolizing
the behavior between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
This has caused me to
understand why there wasn’t much of a clear argument regarding the relationship
between the two countries other than cockfighting. Unfortunately cockfighting
was Wuckers’ main argument the entire time. And because of this, a lot of attention
was taken away from the racially driven institutional differences between the
two countries. Had Wucker picked an approach that would have allowed her to
focus on the institutional development of both countries, I feel she would have had an easier time defining and
explaining the relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic
effectively.
Nonetheless by using the
cockfight as a symbolic liason between Haiti and the Dominican Republic it
seems that Wucker’s intention was to explain that Haiti and the Dominican
Republic share a co-dependent relationship. One that functions not so much
institutionally, but more so through power struggle and a yearn for dominance.
This allows her to conclude that there is a weaker link between the two and one
must culturally wipe out the other.
Overall,
my interpretation of Why Cocks Fight is neutral. I was not overly impressed by
the methodological structure the Wucker used to formulate her arguments.
However by examining Wucker’s methodological approach I was able to tailor my
approach to one that is more conducive to my topic for my proposal. And that
seems to be the main purpose of doing the assignments for this course so I
found the book to be worth the read.
Bibliography
1. Wucker, Michele. Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans,
Haitians, and the struggle for Hispaniola. Macmillan, 2000.
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