Vodou in Haitian life and culture : invisible powers / [edited by] Claudine Michel and Patrick Bellegarde-Smith.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Michel, Claudine.

Bellegarde-Smith, Patrick.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vodou.

Haiti--Religious life and customs.

Haiti.

Physical Description:

xiv, 242 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Vodoo in Haitian life and culture

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Summary:

Myths about Vodou, the indigenous religion of Haiti, are still common currency in Western discourse. This volume dispels those myths with essays that examine the nature, structure, and significance of Vodou practices and beliefs. Written by prominent scholars in the evolving field of Vodou studies, these essays impart balanced views on a misunderstood religious system. They consider how the invisible world is manifested through ceremony and ritual, the surprising intimacy with which Vodou followers relate to spiritual forces, and how the unseen world impacts the daily existence of Vodouists. This collection examines Vodou's role in national development and social change, positioning Vodou alongside other dynamic and progressive religious systems.

Contents:

Afro-Caribben spirituality: a Haitian case study / Karen McCarthy Brown

Vodou in Haiti: way of life and mode of survival / Claudine Michel

African interpretations of the Christian cross in vodou / Leslie Gerald Desmangles

The song of freedom: vodou, conscientization and popular culture in Haiti / Gerdès Fleurant

Yon moso twal nan bwa (a piece of cloth on wood): the drapo vodou in myths of origin / Anna Wexler

"The Jew" in the Haitian imagination: pre-modern anti-Judaism in the post-modern Caribbean / Elizabeth A. McAlister - Resisting freedom: cultural factors in democracy-the case for Haiti / Patrick Bellegarde-Smith

The Haiti-New Orleans vodou connection: Zora Neale Hurston as initiate observer / Richard Brent Turner

Water in their eyes, dust on their land: heat and illness in a Haitian town / Pierre Minn

How Houngans use the light from distant stars / LeGrace Benson

Vodou in Haitian literature / Carrol F. Coates

It's all for you, Sen jak! / Donald J. Cosentino.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1403971617

9781403971616

1403971625

9781403971623

OCLC:

64592228

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description