Author: Publisher: Interlink Books ISBN: Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 132
Book Description
The world's media has chronicled Haiti's long history of political instability and social unrest. But perhaps more importantly, Haitians themselves reacted to the cycle of hope and despair in the form of hundreds of spontaneous street murals. Mostly in the capial, Port-au-Prince, these colorful and expressive paintings both recorded key events and articulated the hopes and fears of their creators. Tragically, many of these paintings were among the casualties of the earthquake that struck the island in early 2010.
Author: C. Michel Publisher: Springer ISBN: 0312376200 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
This collection introduces readers to the history and practice of the Vodou religion, and corrects many misconceptions. The book focuses specifically on the role Vodou plays in Haiti, where it has its strongest following, examining its influence on spiritual beliefs, cultural practices, national identity, popular culture, writing and art.
Author: Edgardo Cozarinsky Publisher: ISBN: Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 136
Book Description
Written in the "deforming mirror" of a "foreigner's English," Cozarinsky's fourteen verbal postcards translate an exile's personal experience into public "deja vu" while his cinematic novella whisks his character through a political and cultural looking glass by means of special effects that make the world a hemisphere away familiarly strange.
Author: Steve Pile Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited ISBN: 9780761970415 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 236
Book Description
What is real about city life? Real Cities shows why it is necessary to take seriously the more imaginary, fantastic and emotional aspects of city life. Drawing inspiration from the work of Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud and Georg Simmel, Pile explores the dream-like and ghost-like experiences of the city. Such experiences are, he argues, best described as phantasmagorias. The phantasmagorias of city life, though commonplace, are far from self-evident and little understood. This book is a path-breaking exploration of urban phantasmagorias, grounded empirically in a series of unusual and exciting case studies. In this study, four substantial phantasmagorias are identified: dreams, magic, vampires and ghosts. The investigation of each phantasmagoria is developed using a wide variety of clear examples. Thus, voodoo in New York and New Orleans shows how ideas about magic are forged within cities. Meanwhile vampires reveal how specific fears about sex and death are expressed within, and circulate between, cities such as London and Singapore. Taken together, such examples build a unique picture of the diverse roles of the imaginary, fantastic and the emotional in modern city life. What is "real" about the city has radical consequences for how we think about improving city life, for all too often these are over-looked in utopian schemes for the city. Real Cities forcefully argues that an appreciation of urban phantasmagorias must be central to what is considered real about city life.
Author: Benjamin Hebblethwaite Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi ISBN: 1496835646 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 288
Book Description
Connecting four centuries of political, social, and religious history with fieldwork and language documentation, A Transatlantic History of Haitian Vodou analyzes Haitian Vodou’s African origins, transmission to Saint-Domingue, and promulgation through song in contemporary Haiti. Split into two sections, the African chapters focus on history, economics, and culture in Dahomey, Allada, and Hueda while scrutinizing the role of Europeans in fomenting tensions. The political, military, and slave trading histories of the kingdoms in the Bight of Benin reveal the circumstances of enslavement, including the geographies, ethnicities, languages, and cultures of enslavers and enslaved. The study of the spirits, rituals, structure, and music of the region’s religions sheds light on important sources for Haitian Vodou. Having royal, public, and private expressions, Vodun spirit-based traditions served as cultural systems that supported or contested power and enslavement. At once suppliers and victims of the European slave trade, the people of Dahomey, Allada, and Hueda deeply shaped the emergence of Haiti’s creolized culture. The Haitian chapters focus on Vodou’s Rada Rite (from Allada) and Gede Rite (from Abomey) through the songs of Rasin Figuier’s Vodou Lakay and Rasin Bwa Kayiman’s Guede, legendary rasin compact discs released on Jean Altidor’s Miami label, Mass Konpa Records. All the Vodou songs on the discs are analyzed with a method dubbed “Vodou hermeneutics” that harnesses history, religious studies, linguistics, literary criticism, and ethnomusicology in order to advance a scholarly approach to Vodou songs.
Author: Alexandra Boutros Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP ISBN: 0773581014 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 313
Book Description
A series of rich case studies examine a range of topics, including neighbourhood gentrification, subway busking, yard sales, electronic waste, and language, refining the touchstone principle of circulation for the study of urban culture, both materially and theoretically. Contributors employ a variety of disciplinary approaches to create a richly varied picture of the multiple trajectories and effects of movement in the city. An engaging work that considers city planning, urban culture, and social behaviour, Circulation and the City adds a new dimension that revitalizes the ways we have commonly looked at - and thought about - the city.
Author: Marcel Carty Publisher: Xlibris Corporation ISBN: 1450023215 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 112
Book Description
Summary of Vodou: The Next Stage attempts to delineate the silhouette of a religion undergoing a process of transformation. Contacts with high priests and priestesses reveal their efforts and readiness to adapt the faith to the demands of time. The recent recognition of Vodou as a religion (2003) by the Haitian government has set the stage for further adaptation and change. Some of the mysteries that permeate the faith now require clarification; rituals should be refined, and some of the secret teachings unveiled. The public access to the religious concepts would also imply a reinterpretation of myths, and a systematic approach to the faith in the light of values and evolutionary concepts. Hence, initiators must more efficiently train candidates to priesthood in order to promote the evolutionary trend of the belief-system. The Vodou creed simmers down in its essence the seeds of change. The deific manifestations inspire believers to search for and find better ways to cope with life difficulties. The derived insight and inspiration throw off sparks of creative energy that ease the material and spiritual journey. Like every human endeavor, Vodou reflects the worshippers’ level of spiritual development; their use of formal knowledge to search for truth would enhance their understanding and integration of lessons learned from spiritual phenomena. The yearning for enlightenment demands acts of faith and courage. It requires a motivating force to move from a perceived good to a greater good. Perseverance and a confident hope could set the stage to move away from well-worn path to more actualized concepts. During rituals, for example, one would see a shift from invocation to evocation of deities; this would ease the forward movement on the spiritual ladder. It would not only shed light on better ways to embark on the earthly pilgrimage and the practice of rituals but also open the mind to the endless spiritual possibilities. The time for a paradigm shift in the religion has arrived, and adjustment now becomes a necessity. The public recognition of Vodou paves the way to a higher level of awareness. Vodouists—now more than ever—must use a new narrative to explain how the channeling of deific energies gives access to information hidden beyond the realm of consciousness, among other phenomena. The pursuit of change would stem from new ways to grasp religious and ethical concepts and integrate them in the practice of the faith. The summoning of deities would require a larger vision, magical knowledge, and the proper conditioning of the believer,s body, mind, and heart to better channel a higher spiritual vibration. This implies a connectedness to the sacred dimension within the confine of formal knowledge, and an honest perception of one’s potentialities, resources, wants and needs. The forward movement on the ladder of spiritual development would not easily unfold; for, change usually takes time. A higher stage of religious practice would require faith, courage, conviction, self-expression, and a more appropriate interaction with others within and without the community of believers. The Vodou faith supports free will, freedom, justice, and respect for self and others. Hence, the change process would entail more individual, social, and spiritual responsibility to demonstrate the willingness to pursue enlightenment.
Author: Dr Bettina Schmidt Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN: 1409477967 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 216
Book Description
Caribbean Diaspora in the USA presents a new cultural theory based on an exploration of Caribbean religious communities in New York City. The Caribbean culture of New York demonstrates a cultural dynamism which embraces Spanish speaking, English speaking and French speaking migrants. All cultures are full of breaks and contradictions as Latin American and Caribbean theorists have demonstrated in their ongoing debate. This book combines unique research by the author in Caribbean New York with the theoretical discourse of Latin American and Caribbean scholars. Focusing on Caribbean religious communities, including Cuban/Puerto Rican Santería (Regla de Ocha), Haitian Vodou, Shango (Orisha Baptist) from Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazilian Pentecostal church, Schmidt's observations lead to the construction of a cultural concept that illustrates a culture in an ongoing state of change, with more than one form of expression depending on situation, time and context. Showing the creativity of religions and the way immigrants adapt to their new surroundings, this book fills a gap between Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Author: Jeffrey E. Anderson Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 493
Book Description
This compelling reference work introduces the religions of Voodoo, a onetime faith of the Mississippi River Valley, and Vodou, a Haitian faith with millions of adherents today. Unlike its fictional depiction in zombie films and popular culture, Voodoo is a full-fledged religion with a pantheon of deities, a priesthood, and communities of believers. Drawing from the expertise of contemporary practitioners, this encyclopedia presents the history, culture, and religion of Haitian Vodou and Mississippi Valley Voodoo. Though based primarily in these two regions, the reference looks at Voodoo across several cultures and delves into related religions, including African Vodu, African Diasporic Religions, and magical practices like hoodoo. Through roughly 150 alphabetical entries, the work describes various aspects of Voodoo in Louisiana and Haiti, covering topics such as important places, traditions, rituals, and items used in ceremonies. Contributions from scholars in the field provide a comprehensive overview of the subject from various perspectives and address the deities and ceremonial acts. The book features an extensive collection of primary sources and a selected, general bibliography of print and electronic resources.
Author: 
Author: C. Michel
Author: Edgardo Cozarinsky
Author: Steve Pile
Author: Benjamin Hebblethwaite
Author: Robert A. Orsi
Author: Alexandra Boutros
Author: Marcel Carty
Author: Dr Bettina Schmidt
Author: Jeffrey E. Anderson