Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora

by Elizabeth McAlister

Rara is a vibrant annual street festival in Haiti, when followers of the Afro-Creole religion called Vodou march loudly into public space to take an active role in politics. Working deftly with highly original ethnographic material, Elizabeth McAlister shows how Rara bands harness the power of Vodou spirits and the recently dead to broadcast coded points of view with historical, gendered, and transnational dimensions.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Music, Religion

259 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2002

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book felt a bit unfocused. McAlister seeks to use the popular Easter week street processions in Haiti, called Rara, to explain a bit too much of Haiti’s society. She mixes anthropological, religious, musical, political and even gendered readings of these street processions in a way that leaves the reader a bit disoriented. She analyzes the lyrics of the popular songs sung during the processions for 2nd and 3rd level meanings applicable to the current political situation and the historical legacy of slavery in a way that was difficult to follow. While the book certainly introduces to the reader several interesting aspects with regards to voodoo, the stratified social structure of Haiti, etc., the combined reading experience leaves the reader more than a bit overwhelmed.

[Neil P · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book with many useful applications to the performative and play fields as well as sociology and culture.

[Akila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can a ritual transcend/subvert the race/class/gender hegemony?