Island Possessed

by Katherine Dunham

Book Overview

Just as surely as Haiti is "possessed" by the gods and spirits of vaudun (voodoo), the island "possessed" Katherine Dunham when she first went there in 1936 to study dance and ritual. In this book, Dunham reveals how her anthropological research, her work in dance, and her fascination for the people and cults of Haiti worked their spell, catapulting her into experiences that she was often lucky to survive. Here Dunham tells how the island came to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226171132
• ISBN13: 9780226171135
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great service!!

Got the book very quickly. Came in same condition as expected. Will do business again.

This book is awesome

Manbo Dunham is a good writer and her prose flows as she talks about her sojourn in Haiti and the religious and political and other figures she interacts with there. This book is of especial interest for her description of the 3-day initiation called the lave tet [or sevis tet or kanzwe depending on where you are and who you ask], which is less well known than the more popular modern kanzo rite initiation centered in Potoprens and other urban centers in Haiti and the Diaspora.