Vodou in Haitian Life and Culture Invisible Powers

This book introduces readers to the practice of Vodou and helps deconstruct and destroy stereotypes which have survived for hundreds of years. The authors in the collection--from Karen McCarthy Brown to Gerdes Fleurant to Leslie Desmangles--are leading scholars in the rapidly growing field of Vodou Studies. Tackling a wide range of Vodou practices and images, the essays within work to introduce readers to the history and practice of this religion, and to correct the fiction of Vodou which has been circulating as fact. The book focuses specifically on the role Vodou plays in Haiti, the country in which it has its strongest following, examining the influence it has on spiritual beliefs, cultural practices, national identity, popular culture, writing and art. By looking in detail at the beliefs and practices in one country, the reader will begin to understand this unique religion and the multiple domains in which it operates.

Claudine Michel is Professor of Black Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara and Editor, Journal of Haitian Studies. Patrick Bellegarde-Smith is Professor of Africology, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

Introduction * Afro-Caribbean Spirituality: A Haitian Case Study--Karen McCarthy Brown * Voudou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival--Claudine Michel * African Interpretations of the Christian Vodou Cross--Leslie G. Desmangles * The Song of Freedom: Vodoun, Conscientization and Popular Culture in Haiti--Gerdes 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
Introduction * Afro-Caribbean Spirituality: A Hatian Case Study--Karen McCarthy Brown * Voudou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival--Claudine Michel * African Interpretations of the Christian Vodou Cross--Leslie G. Desmangles * Resisting Freedom: Cultural Factors in Democracy: The Case for Haiti--Patrick Bellegarde-Smith * "The Jew" in the Haitian Imagination: Pre-Modern Anti-Judaism in the Post-Modern Caribbean--Elizabeth A McAlister * The Song of Freedom: Vodoun, Conscientization and Popular Culture in Haiti--Gerdes Fleurant * Water in their Eyes, Dust on their Land: Heat and Illness in a Haitian Town--Pierre Minn * "I am Going to See Where My Oungan Is": The Artistry of a Haitian Vodou Flagmaker--Anna Wexler * How Hougans Use the Light from Distant Stars--LeGrace Benson * The Haiti-New Orleans Vodou Connection: Zora Neale Hurston as Initiate Observer--Richard Brent Turner