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Chapter 1 : Joseph Binbin Mauvant. A rural patriarch who presided over a large extended family. Point of fictionalized chapters:. Give the reader a sense for: what life was like at different times in history. the belief systems that permeate peasant and urban life in Haiti. Mauvant.
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Chapter 1:Joseph Binbin Mauvant • A rural patriarch who presided over a large extended family.
Point of fictionalized chapters: • Give the reader a sense for: • what life was like at different times in history. • the belief systems that permeate peasant and urban life in Haiti.
Mauvant • A true African. • A healer. • He had no need to call the spirits or use the ason, (beaded rattle). The spirits where with him the whole time.
Chapter 2: Azaka • The Vodou spirit of a peasant farmer. • Reminds Alourdes of her roots and therefore of her connections to, and need for, family.
In the traditional view, the land, the family and the spirits are connected.
For Haitians, the experience of losing land and family is a spiritual crisis. They turn to religion to heal the wounds of this loss.
Figure of Azaka • Points to the importance of roots in the land and allows people to celebrate simplicity and immediacy. • Reinforces the lasting social bonds that tend to break up in the city.
Vodou is a very practical way of providing families for rural migrants.
Please turn to your neighbour and discuss the meaning of food in the context of Vodou.
The work Alourdes performs for the spirits is essential to their well-being. • The spirits expect the same standards of respect and obedience that define the relationship of Haitian children to their elders. • Vodou practitioners say they serve the spirits.
Main part of the ceremony = most important Vodou spirits are saluted, individually and in strict ritual order. • Each spirit must be offered either three or seven songs.
The priest or someone in the crowd is “ridden” by a lwa = becomes possessed by a spirit. • At Mama Lola’s, she is usually the only one who receives the saints in her body.
Azaka • Shy and awkward country bumpkin. • Displays the peasant’s characteristic resignation to life’s tragedies, such as poverty and drought.
Azaka • Has a substantial amount of money that he lends to participants in Vodou ceremonies. • This money is • lent at higher interest rates than would be charged at any bank • however, it is supposed to be special, and to bring good luck.
Azaka • Straddles two conflicting worlds: family and business.
In Vodou, tension between antithetical worlds and their conflicting values is commented upon and transformed.
Write down on a piece of paper a very brief description and analysis, in your own words, of the process through which Alourdes became a Vodou priestess (pp. 70-78).
