Book Description
The U.S. invasion of Haiti in July 1915 marked the start of a military occupation that lasted for nineteen years--and fed an American fascination with Haiti that flourished even longer. Exploring the cultural dimensions of U.S. contact with Haiti during the occupation and its aftermath, Mary Renda shows that what Americans thought and wrote about Haiti during those years contributed in crucial and unexpected ways to an emerging culture of U.S. imperialism.

At the heart of this emerging culture, Renda argues, was American paternalism, which saw Haitians as wards of the United States. She explores the ways in which diverse Americans--including activists, intellectuals, artists, missionaries, marines, and politicians--responded to paternalist constructs, shaping new versions of American culture along the way. Her analysis draws on a rich record of U.S. discourses on Haiti, including the writings of policymakers; the diaries, letters, songs, and memoirs of marines stationed in Haiti; and literary works by such writers as Eugene O'Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.

Pathbreaking and provocative, Taking Haiti illuminates the complex interplay between culture and acts of violence in the making of the American empire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Paternalism= imperialism evolved
Renda's book illuminates the early stages of America's invisible empire: providing an excellent account of paternalism and the racial undercurrents that swell beneath the surface. While I believe she is a little too harsh in her assesment of the Wilson administration, the ideological premise and the conclusion in which she arrives is dead on. A must read for anyone with an interest in U.S. foreign policy and carribean history.

The final chapters are a bit tedious (but that could be my lack of interest in U.S. cultural exoticism) and the "gender" angle is a bit over-amplified for my taste. Otheriwse a great book.

A study of the imperialism of the U.S., a bit overstated
Paternalism is the central theme of Mary Renda's analysis of the US involvement in Haiti during the early part of the 20th century, an imperialistic foray in to what most Americans (including the thousands of US Marines sent there) considered to be a "backward," undeveloped land of childlike inhabitants.Renda asks two questions in this well-written book: "who did US American men think they were in Haiti and how did the people of the United States imagine themselves when they read about their nation's occupation there?" (9) She structures her study in two parts, in order to answer each of these concerns.
Statesmen, diplomats and soldiers of the U.S. involved in the invasion and occupation of Haiti in the second decade of the 20th century brought with them a piece of cultural baggage known as paternalism.By observing and reacting to Haiti with this frame of reference, U.S. Americans almost universally saw their duty as occupiers as being in the role of parent to the native Haitians, to bring to the island and its people the benefits of what U.S. Americans regarded as order, stability, secure commerce and modern, rational customs."Paternalism," she notes, "was the cultural flagship of the United States in Haiti." (15) As agents of U.S. cultural conscription, Marines tried to remake Haiti in to something of their own image of American society primarily through coersive means, though this largely failed due to Haitian resistance.Nevertheless, attitudes toward race, gender and sexuality the soldiers brought with them was the lens through which they viewed this island to be tamed. The racism of the Marines made them see the native Haitians as either ignorant "children," or savages not worthy to rule themselves.Through this paternalistic discourse, policy makers "appealed to the marine's sense of manhood," (303) which made the later look on their roles as that of fathers to children.This of course did not apply to the rebels they were expected to kill."Seeing people of African heritage as children," Renda concludes, "enabled marines to imagine themselves acting on protective and disciplining motivations.Seeing them as targets, however, did not." (156)
Renda argues in chapters 5 and 6 that the Marines' occupation in Haiti had a pronounced effect upon U.S. citizens at home; it was a military intervention that remade U.S. America.She writes that the US imperialism "could...intervene in domestic cultural politics," (185) and she attempts to support this claim by pointing to the popularity of the journalism of American writer James Weldon Johnson, Eugene O'Neill's hit play about a Caribbean leader entitled The Emperor Jones, a novel, film, and cruise line travels to the island in the 1920s.With regard to these claims, Renda is unconvincing.It is difficult to agree with her conclusion that Haiti was "no sideshow" (15) given other larger and more significant U.S. ventures abroad including World War I, the administration of the Panama Canal, and continued U.S. involvement in the Pacific Islands.Renda acknowledges this issue herself by quoting NAACP President Moorfield Story: "It is very hard to get the people to consider anything except the war [in Europe.]" (189) Additionally, Renda offers no convincing evidence as to how many Americans actually read Johnson's work or cruised the islands; the mere fact that critics acclaimed O'Neill's play is hardly proof of a significant intervention in cultural politics.
Despite these limitations, Taking Haiti is an excellent study of the imperialism of the U.S. in which Renda identifies clearly the racial, sexual and gender apparatus that came along with the marines, all under the cloak of interventionist paternalism, the "cultural fabric" of Haitian occupation. (303) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A solid entry in the series
"Haiti," by Roseline Ngcheong-Lum, is part of the "Festivals of the World" book series. This book combines a very readable text with many wonderful full-color photographs. Also included are a map, glossary, and index. There are also instructions for making a Haitian-inspired Carnival headdress, as well as a recipe for the dessert known as blancmange.

The book explains such festivals as Carnival, Mardi Gras, Haitian Independence Day, and the Day of the Dead. A number of related topics are covered: the voodoo religion, beliefs about zombies, and the importance of Haitian heroes like Toussaint L'Ouverture. The photographs are really great: we see a statue memorializing national hero Henri Christophe, a richly decorated church interior, a colorfully decorated "taptap" (public bus), and more. Overall, a fine entry in this series. ... Read more

Book 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. ... Read more

Book Description
During two centuries of independence from colonial rule, Haiti has developed into a society quite distinct from those found in the rest of the region. Hollywood-derived images of black magic and Graham Greene-inspired conceptions of a "nightmare republic" do scant justice to the reality of life for those who make up the third largest population in the Caribbean. How did the slaves of France's most prosperous colony defeat the armies of Napoleon, Spain, and Britain? Why did the U.S. occupation of 1915-34 fail to establish a plantation economy in Haiti? Haiti in Focus is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to this fascinating country. The guide explores the land, history and politics, economy, society and people, culture and environment, and includes tips on where to go and what to see. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

great info on Haiti
really comprehensive view of politics and life in haiti. useful tips for the traveler to Haiti including where to buy condoms!

Helpful snapshot of Haiti
This book is helping me to understand the situation of Haiti in historical context.Its information, format and pictures strike me as slightly out of date but it certainly will give you a background even if not covering the last few years.Since there aren't a lot of books like this one about Haiti I would recommend this for anyone who wants to know more about it but does not want to read a long in-depth tome.

Right on focus!
You'll be fascinated, impressed, depressed, and delighted with Arthur's succinct introduction to the people, culture, and history of a small nation so very close to U.S. shores and U.S. history, yet so very far from our thoughts. From the joyful cover image to photos of brightly-painted buses to the clear maps and tips for travelers, Arthur delivers more than promised--as does Haiti herself. You'll come back for more, once you taste this brief introduction to the famed Hotel Oloffson, tap-taps and Vodou, rara and compa and rasin music, Sweet Micky & Boukman Eksperyans & Tabou Combo, the "little church" and "the flood," peasant movements and death squads, creole pigs and deforestation, poverty and structural adjustment, Toussaint Louverture & the slave revolution, the Duvalier dictatorship and the Tonton Macoutes, poetry and paintings. This book came just in time to enlighten & amaze students in my class on the prize-winning works of Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat. We all give this little book a two-thumbs-up!

Up-to-the-minute Information for Scholars and the Curious
Sometimes it's hard to be an American, and to look out at what we've done to the rest of the world.

Haiti will soon be celebrating its bicentennial of independence.As the second-oldest nation in the Western Hemisphere and the black nation with the longest uninterrupted history, it should by rights be rich, educated, forward thinking, and a bright light for the rest of the world.However, imperialist forces from abroad, including France, Britain, and most recently the United States of America, have colored its two centuries.Its people have been harangued by Castro's Cuba, Trujillo's Dominican Republic, Bush and Clinton's USA, and even the wildly corrupt Duvalier administration.Its land is stripped, its resources have been plundered, its cities are grossly overpopulated, and its seas are silted.And yet, somehow, Haiti survives.

In the wake of the 1991 coup that unseated President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the 1994 US-led UN invasion that restored him to power, much news was made.Haiti was front-page headliner material nearly every day, a prestigious international hot spot.Names were made and broken in political spheres around the Haiti issue.Debate ran high.And then everything just disappeared.Haiti merited a two-paragraph mention on page twelve if the paper needed filler, and then only in large papers that could dedicate themselves to foreign affairs.For most of us, even those of us who maintained our religious interest in the nation, an entire nation may just as well have dropped off the face of the earth.

British activist Charles Arthur, whose other works on Haiti include "A Haitian Anthology: Libète," identifies himself as a "Solidarity Activist."His latest book, "Haiti in Focus," is subtitled "A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture," and it lives up to that description admirably.For those interested, the available information is brought up to date through the middle of 2001.Arthur details the current political struggles surrounding the election of Aristide to another term in office; he lets us know about the struggle between Protestant missionaries and vodou adherents for control of the site at which the Haitian Revolution began; and he even gives us pointers on how to tour the country.

This slim, easy-to-read book is deceptively clear.It focuses on what Haiti is today, and on the forces that have made it so.Arthur posits no blame for what's happened to the country; yet observant reading serves to point out several recurrent patterns.Currently, the United States has been trying to micromanage the Haitian economy to the advantage of America, and indeed has been using the Monroe Doctrine as an excuse to do so for some time.This has been happening in force through the last century, though it can be traced overtly to 1862, when the US recognized the country's sovereignty, and more covertly back to Haitian independence, when the US refused to recognize a free black nation.

America is not alone in this treatment, however.Britain immediately recognized Haiti's independence, but apparently only for political advantage and access to the profitable plantations.When the plantation economy went the way of all flesh, Britain appears to have just walked away.France held recognition for ransom, offering it only when Haiti paid massive war indemnities that left the country in financial ruin from which it hasn't fully recovered.The United Nations and the Organization of American States have consistently tried to co-opt Haiti's foreign policy and dictate domestic positions, and the European Union, primarily under pressure from France, is now trying to horn in on Haitian self-determination.As Arthur explains, Haiti remains a small force, battered on all sides by winds it cannot satisfactorily resist.

The country is also riven internally.Though all involved want the country to flourish and thrive, wildly dissimilar ideas persist as to what would make this happen.Christian missionaries, primarily Catholic and Evangelical Protestant, have brought their faith to the country, but even Jesus Himself hasn't preserved the country.Aristide and his coalition have concrete ideas for how to use the government to resolve problems, but his plans are controversial and have stirred up strong negative feelings.Education is usually severely inadequate because of the lack of skilled teachers, disagreements over the importance of French, and the high cost of schooling in a poor nation.Meanwhile, poverty is swelling, illiteracy remains rampant, and nothing is being done about it.

However, in Arthur's estimation, Haiti remains a culturally vibrant land, a noble nation resisting the homogeneity of Western-styled "globalization."The native art, music, and religion of the land are the most African in the Western Hemisphere, and are a celebration of life in the face of poverty.A full-color photo spread in the middle of the book shows the beauty that accrues to everything in the country-the way a tap-tap driver will paint rainbows on the side of his vehicle; the way rara musicians will dance down the street during a festival.Though this is a country damaged and struggling, Arthur makes plain, this is not a country to give up on, not a country to permit to die.

This book is detailed enough to appeal to those intimately interested in Haiti, either those who appreciate the whole nation or those interested in one or two aspects.At the same time, it's clear enough in style and structure to reach out to readers who are being newly introduced to Haiti, and to those who know only the horror stories that recur in motion pictures and the news.Though it will date quickly, for the moment it stands as a strong primer for the condition that is Haiti and a land working for healing in a world that only wants to use it as a tool. ... Read more

Product Description
SCARCE 1ST EDITION WITH TWO CLASSIC MONOGRAPHS ON ARCHEOLOGY IN HAITI. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Catholic Reporter, published by Thomson Gale on July 20, 2007. The length of the article is 1383 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Dancing in Haiti: come for the beaches, the culture and art.(ESSAY)
Author: Eileen Markey
Publication: National Catholic Reporter (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 20, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 43Issue: 32Page: 6a(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Modernity Disavowed is a pathbreaking study of the cultural, political, and philosophical significance of the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804). Revealing how the radical antislavery politics of this seminal event have been suppressed and ignored in historical and cultural records over the past two hundred years, Sibylle Fischer contends that revolutionary antislavery and its subsequent disavowal are central to the formation and understanding of Western modernity. She develops a powerful argument that the denial of revolutionary antislavery eventually became a crucial ingredient in a range of hegemonic thought, including Creole nationalism in the Caribbean and G. W. F. Hegel’s master-slave dialectic.

Fischer draws on history, literary scholarship, political theory, philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory to examine a range of material, including Haitian political and legal documents and nineteenth-century Cuban and Dominican literature and art. She demonstrates that at a time when racial taxonomies were beginning to mutate into scientific racism and racist biology, the Haitian revolutionaries recognized the question of race as political. Yet, as the cultural records of neighboring Cuba and the Dominican Republic show, the story of the Haitian Revolution has been told as one outside politics and beyond human language, as a tale of barbarism and unspeakable violence. From the time of the revolution onward, the story has been confined to the margins of history: to rumors, oral histories, and confidential letters. Fischer maintains that without accounting for revolutionary antislavery and its subsequent disavowal, Western modernity—including its hierarchy of values, depoliticization of social goals having to do with racial differences, and privileging of claims of national sovereignty—cannot be fully understood.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the most important recent books in Caribbean thought
This extraordinary book won the Frantz Fanon Prize of the Caribbean Philosophical Association in 2004 and then went on to win the Modern Language Association's prize in Latin American Studies and the Latin American Studies Association prize in 2005 for outstanding book.It is all well deserved.This work challenges many of the contemporary approaches to the study of race by offering a rich interplay of the compexities of Latin American conceptions of whiteness and those in the U.S. as they converge in a unified denial of the existence---and more, the HUMANITY---of the first Black Republic in the New World.Dr. Fischer's array of specializations, which range from comparative literature, philosophy, and history to linguistic skills that include French, Spanish, German, and some of the indigenous languages of South America, brings out the nuance and challenges of the Haitian revolution as understood in Haiti and as feared, cheered on, or simply denied from without.This work is a must-read for anyone working in Africana thought, especially in Caribbean studies, and theories of modernity. ... Read more

Product Description
Haiti is a nation exploding with expression.Deep below the flow of everyday life is a rhythm that knows innately how to celebrate being alive -- a giving of memory to all of the senses.You will see it in the color of carnival or in the white upon white at first communion.Listen and you will hear it in the familiar ring of the shoeshiner's bell as he passes in the street, and in the laughter of storytelling by candlelight at night.Photographer Carl Hiebert and writers Anthony Phelps, Sandy Noble Yates and Syto Cave present this Haiti, loved and calling to be remembered.Where Light Speaks is a rediscovery, not only of what is Haitian, but of what is human. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book that helps a good cause...
I love this book because it is so positive and shows the beauty of the people and places of Haiti.The combination of photography and poetry is striking and really draws you in.Every time I open it, it's like being back in Haiti again.Best of all, the proceeds go to International Child Care, a non-profit health development organization that is working to help children and families in Haiti live better lives.What more could you want from a coffee table book?

Haiti - an enchanting depiction
This book provides powerful, beautiful photography, sensitive narrative, and original poetry. It respects the country, its culture and its language. It has a depth not expected in "table top" books.It is the number one book on my gift list this year!(not found in most book stores).Wonderful -

Beautiful book
I lived in Haiti for 18 years and I must say that this book does a wonderful job of portraying Haiti.If you've ever traveled to Haiti or lived there, this book will bring back fond memories.If you've never been to Haiti, you might find yourself longing to visit.This book will help you see why so many people who visit Haiti end up falling in love with it despite the fact that it's one of the poorest, most destitute countries in the world.

Breathtaking Photography, Moving Poetic Verse
I am the adoptive mom of a little Haitian girl. The other night we went toa church to hear a missionary speak about Haiti, and this gorgeous book wason the missionary's display table as a way of showing Americans the beautyof the people in that desperate land. Though we have plenty of photographsourselves from my husband's trip there in 1997 (to finalize the adoptionand bring our daughter home) we were deeply moved by the professionalphotography in this book. It shows the poverty, yes, but it also showsbeauty and community, the natural splendor of the land and the warmth of apeople so ravished by the cruelty of their government, but still able tosmile. This is a book of hope, and a book of brilliant color, and a bookwhich shows the strength of the Haitian people. Each gorgeous photo has anaccompanying poetic verse in Creole and in English. A truly lovely book....

It took me back to a place I love
The photos and text of this book are truly amazing.As soon as I opened the book, it was as if I were back in Haiti once again.Smelling the smells, hearing the sounds, seeing the sights.

A wonderful gift forsomeone who has been to Haiti and was touched by the beauty and simplicityof a country so close to the U.S. in proximity and so far away in reality. ... Read more

Book Description
Haiti has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more