<P> The Kingdom of This World has a deep focus on the nature of revolution, and the novel itself can be viewed as a reflection of Carpentier's ideological perspective towards revolutions . Carpentier tries to establish the idea that a distinction must be made between revolutions and reactions . While a revolution produces progress, a reaction does not . </P> <P> In the novel, the Afro - Caribbean slave population violently react to the oppressive regime imposed on them by the French colonials . The end result of this armed reaction is the emergence of a brutal regime in which the oppressed become the oppressors . Sadly, the leaders of the newly produced regime fail to break the mold imposed by the French colonials . The ruling Afro - Caribbeans end up enslaving and oppressing their own kind and the resulting social situation is devoid of any progress . Carpentier's perspective on the Haitian revolution is revealed in the way that he portrays the cyclical nature of reactionary violence . </P> <P> Hybridization, or the formation of a hybrid identity, is a theme commonly found in texts that deal with cultural differences . The theory of hybridization was originally developed by Homi K. Bhabha in an effort to explain the effects of interacting cultures . Bhabha's theory contends that, through the process of what he refers to as cultural translation, the interactions between two distinct cultures result in the formation of a hybrid identity . As the word "hybrid" suggests, the new identity is a mix of the two original cultures and the end result is a new unique cultural entity . </P> <P> In The Kingdom of This World, Carpentier writes about the struggles and conflicts that arise between the French colonials and the Afro - Caribbean population in Haiti during a time of revolution . Carpentier's prose is rich with examples of hybridization . One of the most striking examples is found in the chapter titled "San Trastorno," where black priests combine Voodoo and Catholic religious practices to form a hybridized religious entity . The hybridized religious entity can be viewed as heretical since it is a blasphemous, bastardized departure from both pure Voodoo and Catholic practices . Carpentier also has a tendency to hybridize many other components of his novel . The titles of the chapters themselves provide further examples of hybridization . Carpentier creatively chose chapter titles that had a well established connotative significance and distorted their meaning . For instance, the chapter titled "Las metamorfosis," does not tell the mythic stories of Ovid, but rather speaks of the metamorphosis of the slave Mackandal . </P>

Alejo carpentier the kingdom of this world summary