Voodoo in Haiti

by Alfred Métraux

Book Overview

Voodoo in Haiti is a masterwork of observation and description by one of the most distinguished anthropologists of the twentieth century. Alfred M traux (1902-1963) has written a rich and lasting... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805208941
• ISBN13: 9780805208948
• Release Date: April 1989
• Publisher: Schocken Books Inc
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A gem on Haiti's religion indigène.

Jacques Roumain's old traveling partner penned this thorough and respectful survey of Haitian vodou in 1959. A must for anyone seriously exploring the system of belief.

superb study of voodoo

The most carefully researched and authentic scholarly book on Voodoo. Reads very well--good in-depth coverage.

Objective and Respectful

Alfred Metraux's study of Haitian vaudou is as comprehensive as one can imagine an outsider can achieve. The book covers the history, social framework, gods, spirits, and loa, rituals, magic, and what The Church thinks. There are antecdotal stories that illustrate the powers and beliefs of vaudou practitioners. Metraux's direct observations are ususally imparted without condescension. I found the writing to be scholarly as well as approachable and entertaining. An excellent resource for those interested in this misunderstood Creole religion.

A Good Place to Start

If you want to learn something about Voodoo, then start with Alfred Metraux's "Voodoo in Haiti". It's the most straight down the line, objective, anthropological study of voodoo that one can find. Often, better editions of the book are accompanied by Metraux's photography, which in itself tells one a great deal about this religion. Factual evidence is the priority here and for that reason alone, it's a respectable book that doesn't tell any lies. Metraux is the classic 'outsider' who is looking in at Voodoo, and his viewpoint is never marred by Western conceits or judgements. "Voodoo in Haiti" firmly puts Voodoo in its place alongside every other religion in the world: it has value, merits, problems and practices. Most importantly of all, Metraux does not once mention "Live and Let Die".

Straight, objective anthropological overview of Vodoun

This, and Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse: Voodoo in Haiti and Jamaica, are probably the best straight-up objective studies of Voodooism as it is seriously practiced. This books gives the reader the "white anthropologist's" point of view, and is somewhat more objective than Hurston's book. Not making any judgements abotu the religion, all it gives is 100+ pages of defintive facts in the forms of text anf images.