Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English

by Benjamin Hebblethwaite

Overview

Vodou songs constitute the living memory of Haitian Vodou communities, and song texts are key elements to understanding Haitian culture. Vodou songs form a profound religious and cultural heritage that traverses the past and refreshes the present. Offering a one-of-a-kind research tool on Vodou and its cultural roots in Haiti and pre-Haitian regions, Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English provides a substantial selection of hard to find or unpublished sacred Vodou songs in a side-by-side bilingual format.

Esteemed scholar Benjamin Hebblethwaite introduces the language, mythology, philosophy, origins, and culture of Vodou through several chapters of source songs plus separate analytical chapters. He guides readers through songs, chants, poems, magical formulae, invocations, prayers, historical texts and interviews, as well as Haitian Creole grammar and original sacred literature. An in-depth dictionary of key Vodou terms and concepts is also provided.

This corpus of songs and the research about them provide a crucial understanding of the meaning of Vodou religion, language, and culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439906033
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	10/28/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	396
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Benjamin Hebblethwaite is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Florida. He is the coeditor (with Jacques Pierre) of Arthur Rimbaud's prose poem, Une saison en enfer / Yon sezon matchyavèl.

Table of Contents

1. The World of Vodou Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite

2. A Sketch of Haitian Creole Grammar / Benjamin Hebblethwaite and Vanessa Brissault

3. Historical Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite 

4. Jacques Roumain, Werner A. Jaegerhuber and Jean Price-Mars’ Songs / 

Benjamin Hebblethwaite

5. Milo Marcelin’s Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite and Joanne Bartley

6. Laura Boulton’s Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite and Joanne Bartley

7. J.L.’s Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite and Chris Ballengee

8. Hebblethwaite’s Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite 

9. Harold Courlander’s Songs / Benjamin Hebblethwaite and Erica Felker-Kantor

10. The Dictionary of Vodou Terminology / Benjamin Hebblethwaite, Joanne Bartley, 

Andrew Tarter, Quinn Hansen and Kat Warwick

11. References

12. Photographs

Editorial Reviews

"Benjamin Hebblethwaite’s Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English is an extraordinary compilation of the sacred oral traditions of Haiti. Hebblethwaite brings the combined talents of an ethnographer and linguist to the translation and interpretation of over six hundred Vodou songs, spanning several decades, contexts, and moods. Many are from important collections that have never been published. Accompanying this remarkable project is a hundred-page dictionary of Vodou terms, which will be an invaluable resource for students of Haitian culture and religion." 
—Joseph M. Murphy, Georgetown University, author of Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora

 "Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English gives English-language readers access, for the first time, to a remarkably rich and diverse corpus of songs. Hebblethwaite, a leading expert in Haitian Kreyòl, provides excellent translations and lucid linguistic and cultural analysis. He shows how Vodou songs bring together theology, history, and poetry. A vital resource for all those interested in Haitian culture and religion, as well as for those teaching and learning Haitian Kreyòl."— Laurent Dubois, Duke University, author of Haiti: The Aftershocks of History

From the Publisher