My Soul Is in Haiti: Protestantism in the Haitian Diaspora of the Bahamas

by Bertin M. Louis Jr.

Overview

Offers a greater understanding of the spread of Protestant Christianity, both regionally and globally, by studying local transformations in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas.


In the Haitian diaspora, as in Haiti itself, the majority of
Haitians have long practiced Catholicism or Vodou. However, Protestant forms of
Christianity now flourish both in Haiti and beyond. In the Bahamas, where approximately one in five people are now Haitian-born or Haitian-descended,
Protestantism has become the majority religion for immigrant Haitians.



In My Soul Is in Haiti, Bertin M. Louis, Jr. has combined multi-sited ethnographic research in the United States, Haiti, and the
Bahamas with a transnational framework to analyze why Protestantism has appealed to the Haitian diaspora community in the Bahamas. The volume illustrates how devout Haitian Protestant migrants use their religious identities to ground themselves in a place that is hostile to them as migrants,
and it also uncovers how their religious faith ties in to their belief in the need to “save” their homeland, as they re-imagine Haiti politically and morally as a Protestant Christian nation.



This important look at transnational migration between second and third world countries shows how notions of nationalism among Haitian migrants in the Bahamas are filtered through their religious beliefs. By studying local transformations in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas, Louis offers a greater understanding of the spread of Protestant Christianity, both regionally and globally.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479841660
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Bertin M. Louis, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies, Affiliated Faculty of American Studies, and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for the Study of Social Justice, Global Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Pronunciation of Haitian Creole Terminology xv

Introduction 1

1. Haitian Protestant Culture 19

2. Haitians in the Bahamas 47

3. Pastors, Churches, and Haitian Protestant Transnational Ties 71

4. Haitian Protestant Liturgy 95

5. “The People Who Have Not Converted Yet,” 119 Protestant, and Christian

Conclusion: Modernity Revisited 143

Notes 153

References 163

Index 169

About the Author 179

Editorial Reviews

"Dr. Bertin M. Louis Jr. has just offered to the world of intelligentsia a remarkable book on the culture of Haitian Protestantism in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas. It is, without a doubt, a roadmap for cultural anthropology or ethnography designed for researchers with deep insights, students, and scholars to address religious issues, not only under the lens of inquiry, but with a profound thirst for social justice."

Clarence St. Hilaire Ethnic and Racial Studies

"My Soul is in Haitioffers much for us to seriously contemplate."

Black Theology

"Dr. Bertin M. Louis Jr. has just offered to the world of intelligentsia a remarkable book on the culture of Haitian Protestantism in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas. It is, without a doubt, a roadmap for cultural anthropology or ethnography designed for researchers with deep insights, students, and scholars to address religious issues, not only under the lens of inquiry, but with a profound thirst for social justice."- Ethnic and Racial Studies ,Clarence St. Hilaire

"A ground-breaking study drawing on five years of transnational ethnographic research in the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United States. As a Haitian-American, Louis is cognizant of the subtleties of Haitian culture and the cultural differences between Haitians living in Haiti and Haitians living abroad. A major strength of this book is the author’s keen recognition of the importance of boundary maintenance and his insights into native constructions of 'religion,' such as the distinction Haitians make between being Protestant ( Pwotestan ) and being Christian ( Kretyen )."-Stephen D. Glazier,University of Nebraska-Lincoln

From the Publisher

"A ground-breaking study drawing on five years of transnational ethnographic research in the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United States. As a Haitian-American, Louis is cognizant of the subtleties of Haitian culture and the cultural differences between Haitians living in Haiti and Haitians living abroad. A major strength of this book is the authors keen recognition of the importance of boundary maintenance and his insights into native constructions of 'religion,' such as the distinction Haitians make between being Protestant (Pwotestan) and being Christian (Kretyen)."

Stephen D. Glazier

"[F]or bringing Haitian Protestantism to our attentionand apparently to the attention of Bahamiansand for linking religion to class, race, and transnational variables, the project is a welcome addition to the literature on Latin and Caribbean Christianity."

Anthropology Review Database

"A ground breaking study of the evangelical Protestant churches in the Haitian communities of the Bahamas, describing the ways in which these churches provide their congregations with a sense of national and transnational identity. Vital for students of diasporic and transnational studies, anthropologists, historians and sociologists of religion, this book is a comprehensive study likely to be the authoritative source on this topic for years to come."

Leslie G. Desmangles