My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/BGR0498.aspx
All Greenwood Products
Culture and Customs of Haiti
J. Michael Dash
ISBN: 0-313-36099-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-36099-2
200 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 10/30/2008
List Price: $20.00 (UK Sterling Price: £13.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Paperback
Also Available: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • [D]ash has given us a book which is worth reading. If it raises more questions than it answers, that is in the very nature of his subject: the complex, elusive and invariably intellectually intractable panorama of Haitian history.
    —Caribbean Studies     June 2003
  • [A]ppropriate for both public and academic library collections.
    —Reference and User Services Quarterly     Summer 2001
Description: Haiti is the only country that is considered Latin American but has a language and culture that are predominantly French and a population that is primarily of African descent. It is also the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and a country of extremes. Culture and Customs of Haiti fleshes out the evolution of this diverse society through discussions of the Haitian people, history, religion, social customs, media, literature and language, and performing and visual arts. This much-needed resource gives students and other readers a balanced picture of a Caribbean nation known in the United States mainly for its boat people, the Duvalier dictatorships, and voodoo.

Culture and Customs of Haiti begins with an overview of the mountainous island that seemed forbidding to European colonizers. Historical periods, including French colonization, U.S. occupation in the early 20th century, Independence and the Duvaliers' reigns, until today, are reviewed and provide the framework for the volume. A chapter on the people and society details the pride of the black state that managed the only successful slave revolution in history. The extremes of society from the elite to the peasantry and slum dwellers are depicted, along with Haitians in diaspora. Religion in Haiti, with the strong amalgamation of Roman Catholicism and vaudou, a West African import, is then explained. A Social Customs chapter notes the joy that is found in such an economically depressed culture. The media and literature and language chapters necessarily unfold in the context of Haiti's political history. A section on writing in Creole is especially intriguing. Finally, chapters on the performing arts and visual arts evoke the energy and color of the people in such forms as vaudou jazz and dance, contemporary rara rock, and the folkloric influence on Haitian painting. A chronology and glossary supplement the text.
Table of Contents:
  • Series Foreword
    Context
    The People and Society
    Religion
    Social Customs
    Mass Media and Cinema
    Literature and Language
    The Performing Arts
    The Visual Arts and Architecture
    Index
About the Author: J. MICHAEL DASH is a Professor of French at New York University, and is a specialist of Haitian culture and literature.
LCC Class: 306
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2009 ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-968-1911