#29: LIBETE: A HAITI ANTHOLOGY. Ed. by Charles Arthur and Michael Dash. An exceptional new reader on Haiti

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

>From Bob Corbett:

Finally, a great textbook for Haiti!!!  Yesterday I received a copy
of LIBETE: A HAITI ANTHOLOGY.  Edited by list member Charles Arthur and
Michael Dash.  Published by Marcus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, NJ.,
1999.  ISBN# 1-55876-212-4  (hardbound $39.95)
	     1-55876-213-2  (paper $19.95).  352 pages.

This is an extraordinary book, and one that fills a great gap in what's
available.  It is a series of many, many short pieces, sort of a
Haiti reader, a sampler.  Most readings are from well-known names in
Haiti literature, from voices of a century or more ago to most contemporary
writers.

The book is divided into 10 themes, each theme contain 15-20 short readings.
This would make a wonderful book to have around for those moments when
one has a few minutes to kill and doesn't want to daydream!  :)

The themes are:

1.  Colonialism and Revolution
2.  The Status Quo:  Elites, Soldiers and Dictators
3.  Rural Haiti:  Peasants, Land and the Environment
4.  Poverty and Urban Life
5.  Forces for Change
6.  Refugees and the Diaspora
7.  Foreign Interventions
8.  Popular Religion and Culture
9.  Literature and Language
10. The View from Abroad

I highly recommend the book.  It is sending me back to the drawing board
with my fall on-line Haiti course.  I'm going to redo the syllaus and
use this as a textbook.  

Editor Charles Arthur is a familar name to most of you.  He is a long-time
list member living in England and heading up a group of people concerned
with Haiti.  He has been a frequent contributor to the group and has
published the booklet AFTER THE DANCE, THE DRUM IS HEAVY.  The other
editor, Michael Dash has published two books on Haiti which I know of,
HAITI AND THE UNITED STATES: NATIONAL STEREOTYPES AND THE LITERATRY
IMAGINATION, and LITERATURE AND IDEOLOGY IN HAITI 1915-1961.

I would normally recommend you immediately race off to amazon.com to
order this book, but list-member Walter Miale has been reminding me of
late to urge people to use their local smaller book stores to help keep 
them in business.  Sounds like a good idea.

However you do it, don't wait on this one.  It's a must for any household
with an interest in Haiti!!!

Bob Corbett