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This is to certify that the
thesis entitled

CHALLENGING CULTURAL AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI AND
THE HAITIAN DIASPORA THROUGH VODOU-INSPIRED
MUSIC, EDUCATION AND HUMANOCENTRISM

presented by

MARY J. PROCOPIO

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for the

Master of degree in Musicology
Arts

 

 

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5108 KlProj/Aoc8Pres/ClRC/Dateoue.indd

CHALLENGING CULTURAL AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI AND THE HAITIAN
DIASPORA THROUGH VODOU-INSPIRED MUSIC, EDUCATION AND
HUMANOCENTRISM

By

Mary J. Procopio

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirement
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Musicology
2009

ABSTRACT

CHALLENGING CULTURAL AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI AND THE HAITIAN
DIASPORA THROUGH VODOU-INSPIRED MUSIC, EDUCATION AND
HUMANOCENTRISM

By
Mary J. Procopio

Many Haitians at home and in the diaspora have conflicting and ambivalent
feelings about Vodou, the religious practice of the majority of rural Haitians. Yet,
despite the historical antagonism that many elites have had toward this religious practice,
there are people who have struggled to reconcile these class-based conflicts in order to
come up with a way to value Vodou for contemporary Haitians. By examining the
significance of Haitian indigenous culture as part of Haitian identity and the forces of
change that have impacted Haitians’ views towards Vodou, we can better understand why
Vodou is a source of ambivalence for some Haitians. Examining ambivalence in Haitian
society enables us to better understand the relationship between Haiti’s social classes and

educational system, and the challenges confronting Haitians today.

This thesis examines the efforts of several Haitian composers and educators to
address issues of class conflict and negative stereotyping of Vodou practitioners by elite
Haitians. Incorporating elements taken from ceremonial music in their classical art music
compositions, bringing the music and culture of the Haitian lower classes to national and
international audiences, and building cultural institutions that promote Haitian indigenous
music are ways in which some Haitians have succeeded in educating others about the

traditional music and culture of Haiti and challenging ambivalence towards Vodou.

COPyright by
MARY J. PROCOPIO
2009

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to those who have made my research and work in Haiti possible:
Michael Largey, Gerdes Fleurant, Florienne Saintil, Claude Dauphin and Julio Racine.
Without Michael Largey’s inspiration and guidance, I would not have the opportunity to
learn about Haitian music and culture. Without Gerdes F leurant and Florienne Saintil’s
generosity in treating me like family inside and outside of Haiti, I would have been
unable to complete my research, and may never have had the chance to visit Haiti.
Without Claude Dauphin’s assistance in providing me with the manuscripts by Haitian
composers housed at the Société de recherche et de drfiizsion de la musique hai'tienne in

Montreal, I would not have had the opportunity to study and perform the music by Jaegerhuber

and other composers. Without Julio Racine’s patience and friendship, I would not have
had the opportunity to learn more about Haitian classical music or to perform his

wonderful works for flute. Mési anpil zanmi m yo.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the support, encouragement and
assistance of many individuals and institutions who have assisted me throughout my

research.

Thank you to my friends Rebecca Dirksen, Grete Viddal, Stephanie Krehbiel, and
Nicole Riner, and my colleagues Chuck Iwanusa, Mary Nieuwenhuis, Jeff Bussure,
Jessie Sirna and Dean Mary Cusack for your support, patience and encouragement of my

research.

Thank you to the members of my thesis committee: Michael Largey, Joanna
Bosse, and Mark Sullivan, for taking the time to read through my document and provide

me with your valuable feedback.

Thank you to Gerdes F leurant and Florienne Saintil for your continued friendship,

generosity and hospitality, and for treating me like a member of your family.

Thank you to Claude Dauphin, Lois Wilcken, John Jost, Janet Anthony, Patrick
Bellgarde-Smith, Le Grace Benson, Anna Maria Etienne and the many others who have
provided me with the encouragement and much—needed information required to further

my goal in performing and promoting Haitian classical music.

Thank you to Julio Racine for your support and encouragement, for your

continued patience in answering my endless questions, and for being so willing to share

your knowledge and gift of music with me. It will always be an honor and privilege to

perform your music.

Thank you to Amy F ugate, Jessie Sima and Mott Community College for your

generous support of my research through professional development fimds.

Thank you to Jim F orger, Ted Tims, and the Michigan State University School of
Music and Graduate School for the generous financial support through travel grants that
you provide for graduate students. Without this funding, many of my conference

presentations would not have been possible.

Thank you to the Flint Institute of Music School of Performing Arts, the St.
Cecilia Music Society and the Florida Flute Association for their financial support of my
research endeavors both in the United States and Haiti. Much of my fieldwork and
research would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance that you

provided and made available to me.

To Ken and Alice Weygand, thank you for always being there for me and
encouraging me; you both mean the world to me. I would not be where I am today

without your love, guidance, support and encouragement.

To Marshall Onofrio, thank you for your continuing guidance, encouragement,
and friendship over the years, and for making such a big difference at an important time

in my life. Your influence and inspiration continues even from afar.

And to Michael Largey, your fiiendship and guidance mean more than I can say.

Thank you for all of your patience, flexibility and encouragement. You have been and

vi

always will be an inspiration in my life. Your passion for teaching has made me a better
teacher, and I am a better person for having known you. Thank you for not giving up on

me, and for encouraging me to follow my dream.

vii

PREFACE

This study is the result of research based on ethnomusicological fieldwork done in

Haiti and the United States from 2003 through 2009.

Since my first trip to Haiti in January 2003, I have traveled there on a yearly basis
to conduct research, teach, perform and travel throughout the country. I have had the
opportunity to meet many of the composers and educators that I write about in this thesis.
It has been my great pleasure to get to know them, and an honor to perform their music.
My goal is to continue to promote and perform the music of Haitian composers, and to
commission new solo and chamber works for flute by Haitian composers. Through these
endeavors, I hope to do a small part in educating others about a country and a culture that

has changed my life in numerous ways.

My interest in Haitian music and culture began while taking several classes with
Dr. Michael Largey, Professor of Ethnomusicology at Michigan State University. I
became particularly interested in Haitian Vodou, an ofien misunderstood and
misrepresented religion. Dr. Largey put me in touch with Gerdes F leurant, a Haitian
ethnomusicologist and initiated Vodou priest. In 2002, I participated in a summer course
with Dr. Fleurant on the ceremonial music of Haitian Vodou, my first opportunity to

immerse myself in the intensive study of Haitian music and culture.

My research on Haiti began after studying with Dr. Fleurant in 2002, and was
multi-faceted; at times I was solely an observer, at times a participant-observer. On my

first trip to Haiti, Dr. F leurant allowed me to join him and his students fi'om Wellesley

viii

College in January 2003 for a three week intensive course on the music, dance and
culture of Haiti. The course was sponsored by Fleurant and held at a cultural center that
he built in Haiti’s Central Plateau rcgicn.‘ While there, I participated in drumming and
dance classes, had private lessons with Haitian drummers, and worked with a Haitian
tutor to learn Creole. On subsequent trips to Haiti I engaged in other activities, including:
additional drumming and language lessons, visiting various temples throughout Haiti,
attending and videotaping Vodou ceremonies and musical performances of ram bands in
the Central Plateau and Leogane, as well as performances of popular bands and classical
ensembles, participating in pilgrimages to sacred sites in the Central Plateau and
Northern Haiti that held significance for Haitians of Catholic and Vodou faiths, and

traveling throughout the country to see some of the major historical and cultural sites. 2

During the summer of 2003 I lived with a Haitian family in Boston while taking a
three-week intensive language course through the Haitian Creole Summer Institute at the
University of Massachusetts-Boston.3 At the conclusion of the course I returned to Haiti
and spent the next month in Mirebalais with Fleurant and his family to firrther my studies
and research. I continued my studies in Haitian Creole during the 2003-2004 academic
year as a doctoral student at Michigan State University through a Title IV F LAS
fellowship. In subsequent summers and other times throughout the year I have returned
to Haiti to conduct research, attend conferences, to teach and perform at the cultural
center in Mirebalais, the Holy Trinity music school in Port-au-Prince, and at summer

camps in Leogane, Jacmel, and City Soleil, and to travel throughout the country.

 

‘ I discuss this cultural center further in chapter three.

2 Rara is a processiorml music played during Lent that is popular among the peasants and
urban lower class.

3 Boston is home to one of the largest Haitian diasporic communities in the United States.

In the United States, I have conducted research in the Haitian communities in
Boston, New York City and Miami. I attended mizik rasin festivals in Boston and New
York, and attended several conferences and conducted interviews with Haitians and non-
Haitians familiar with Haitian music and culture while in Boston.4 Over the course of
several years I conducted interviews with many Haitian and non-Haitian musicians and

non-musicians in Haiti and the United States.

In addition to my studies, I have had the opportunity to present numerous papers,
performances, and lecture-recitals on Haitian music, culture and identity throughout the
United States and in Canada at regional, national and international conferences of the
Society for Ethnomusicology, the College Music Society, the Haitian Studies
Association, the American Folklore Society and KOSANBA (the Congress of Santa
Barbara), the scholarly association for the study of Haitian Vodou. In 2004 I founded the
classical chamber ensemble Z.A.M.A., a group dedicated to performing and promoting
Haitian art music, especially that which is inspired by Haitian traditional and ceremonial

music.5

This study is interdisciplinary in nature and is connected to contemporary
scholarship and literature on Haitian music and culture, issues of nationalism and

identity, anthropology, religious studies, folkloric studies, and education. To my

 

‘ In December 2008 r was interviewed by a Haitian radio station in Boston. The topic of
the interview was Haitian classical music, especially that which was inspired by
traditional Haitian music, and a compact disc recording that I had recently released. The
program was divided into two segments; the first was done in English, the second was
conducted in Creole.

5 Z.A.M.A. is the acronym for “Zanmi Ansanm pou Mizik Ayisyen” (Friends Together
for Haitian Music). It can also be interpreted as a Haitian music ensemble of friends. We
have established scholarship funds at several music institutions at cultural centers
throughout Haiti.

knowledge, this is the first in—depth study of Haitian composers from mid-twentieth
century onward, and the first study on the work that Dr. Fleurant and his wife, Florienne

Saintil, have initiated in their hometown of Mirebalais, Haiti.

xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1

CHAPTER 1

CULTURAL AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI AND THE HAITIAN DIASPORA ......... 13
The Role of Vodou in Haitian Society ................................................. 15
The Rise of Nationalism and African Identity ........................................ 16
The Manifestation of Ambivalence in Haiti ........................................... 20
Ambivalence in the Haitian Diaspora .................................................. 35
Worldviews as a Catalyst for Ambivalence ........................................... 37
Ambivalence and Vodou-Inspired Classical Music .................................. 49

CHAPTER 2

CHALLENGING AMBIVALENCE THROUGH THE COMPOSITION OF

Werner Anton J aegerhuber .............................................................. 57
Frantz Casséus ............................................................................. 63
Julio Racine ................................................................................ 68
Other Prominent Haitian Composers Influenced by J aegerhuber .................. 77

Claude Dauphin, Amons Coulanges, Carmen Brouard
Educating Others and Raising Awareness Through

Vodou-Inspired Music .......................................................... 82
CHAPTER 3
LEADING BY EXAMPLE: FIGHTING AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI
THROUGH A HUMANISTIC HANDS-ON APPROACH .................................. 85
Gerdes F leurant and the Rada Rite ..................................................... 88
Vodou as a Source of Ambivalence Among the Upper Classes .................... 92
Social Class and Conflict in Haiti ...................................................... 98
Haiti’s Middle and Upper Class and the Haitian Educational System
Until 1979 ................................................................................. 101
The Haitian Educational System, 1979-2008 ......................................... 104
The Haitian Peasantry .................................................................... 110
Peasant Agency, Traditional Culture, and Education in Rural Haiti .............. 116
Building a Future for Haiti ................................................ -. ............. 119
The Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscofi' Cultural Center ........................... 119
CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 127
APPENDIX A ..................................................................................... 131
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................. 133

xii

CHALLENGING CULTURAL AMBIVALENCE IN HAITI AND THE HAITIAN
DIASPORA THROUGH VODOU-INSPIRED MUSIC, EDUCATION AND
HUMANOCENTRISM

“National identity and cultural identity are the same. Our national culture is Vodou, thus our
national identity is Vodou...An elite group that cannot show the values of its culture [V odou] to
elite group[s] from other nations cannot find respect for his country.”

-—ZANTRAY (Zarrfan Tradisyon Ayr'syen)|

Introduction

The first black independent nation in the world, Haiti’s tumultuous history is
filled with dictators who suppressed the voice and views of lower-class Haitians,
particularly Haiti’s rural peasants. Some of these dictators have used Vodou—Haiti’s
national religion—40 manipulate and control Haiti’s lower class population. Approved as
an official religion in 2003, Vodou has long been deemed as “black magic” by numerous
upper-class Haitians and non-Haitians alike. The negative propaganda surrounding
Vodou prompted many middle and upper-class Haitians to distance themselves from any
connection to its practice, including its music. However, in the early-mid twentieth
century, some elite Haitian composers embraced the music of Vodou through the use of
rhythms and melodies taken from ceremonial music, as well as its emphasis on
replicating the sound of traditional instruments. Additionally, many Haitian scholars and
educators have come together to raise awareness about issues facing Haitians, and to

promote a better understanding about Haitian culture, religion and life.

 

I Zanfan T radisyon A yisyen, Creole for “Children of Haitian Traditions” is a Haiti-based
organization that promotes the importance of Vodou as a part of Haiti’s national identity
and culture. ZANTRAY describes Vodou as “the spiritual cement that molded the
nation. . .the some of peace, fraternity, and solidarity...”
(www.mtr'y.ht/pozisyon_zanu'y_en.hml). Taken from a speech given by Reginald
Bailly, National President of ZANTRAY, Port-au-Prince, January 10, 2005.

This thesis examines the causes for ambivalence felt by many Haitians towards
Vodou, and the ways in which Haitian composers and educators are challenging those
ambivalent feelings, working to bring together social classes and communities, and
educating Haitians and non-Haitians about Haitian indigenous culture. I examine the
efforts of several Haitian musicians and educators to address issues of class conflict and
negative stereotyping of Vodou practitioners by elite Haitians. Although class conflict
continues to be a problem for lower-class Haitians to overcome, there are elite Haitians
who have tried to bring the music and culture of the Haitian lower classes to national and

international audiences.

Composers like Werner Anton J aegerhuber (1900-1953) worked to educate others
about Haitian indigenous culture by incorporating elements taken from ceremonial music
in their classical art music compositions, known in Haitian Creole as mizik savant
ayisyen. At times these composers drew attention to the connection between their music
and the Vodou ceremony by linking the titles of pieces to various Iwa yo—saints or
spirits—or including terms like vodouesque or folklorique in their titles.2 However,
music without references to Vodou, or Vodou-derived music presented in a folkloric
context, was more acceptable to upper-class Haitians, due to the conflicting feelings that

existed towards Vodou.3

 

2 Yo is the plural indicator in Haitian Creole.

3 There were instances when elites were not accepting of J aegerhuber’s use of Vodou
when it was obvious in his music. For example, Jaegerhuber’s Messe Vodouesque was
not tolerated by some Haitians with its original title, but when he changed the orchestral
parts to read Messe F olklorique, the music was better received. (This incident is
explained further at the end of chapter one.) In the music I am referencing, the titles
themselves do not reflect any connection to Vodou. J aegerhuber’s musical references

Ambivalence as I define it is the contradictory or indecisive feelings that one may
have regarding a particular belief, situation or issue. It may exist for several reasons,
including ignorance and/or perception (concern over one’s social status and how one is
seen by others), and is often shaped by past experience or prior knowledge. Feeling
indecisive may fluctuate, depending upon the circumstances and situations people—in
this case, Haitians—find themselves in at any given time. It is not limited to one social
class; indeed, it is found throughout peasant society and the urban lower classes, as well

as among middle and upper-class elite Haitians.

Ambivalence motivates people to recast the relationship between Vodou and the
rest of Haitian society in several ways. In the case of Haitian peasants and lower-class
Haitians who reside in urban areas——two groups seen as Vodou’s most loyal advocates-—
conflicting feelings towards Iwa yo who may not heed their prayers and offerings can
lead some practitioners to convert to Protestantism.4 In the case of Haitians like
ethnomusicologist and initiated ougan Gerdes Fleurant, who see themselves aligned with
the lower-class and value Vodou, but who are from the upper classes and regarded as
elite, it allows them to focus on the beneficial aspects of Vodou and how it can be a force

for positive change in Haitian society.5 Becoming champions for Haiti’s lower-class and

 

and quotations taken from ceremonial music are discreet and subtle, thereby making the
music more agreeable to those who oppose Vodou.

4See Richman 2005, chapter nine, pp. 252-257.

5 An ougan is a Vodou priest, while a female priest is a manbo. A presentation at the
July 2009 KOSANBA conference in Haiti illustrates this point. Claudine Michel, a
member of Haiti’s elite class who is professor in the department of Black Studies and the
Center For Black Studies Research at the University of California, Santa Barbm
presented a paper on what Vodou is able to do to help Haitians. Michel asserts that
“There will never be democracy unless we accept the culture of the people.” She
challenged attendees to think of the positive attributes of Vodou by posing the following
questions: “What can Vodou bring to education in Haiti? How can Vodou bring back

viewing Vodou as a significant part of Haiti’s national identity provides fuel for some
upper-class Haitians to critique those elites who do not support what they see as an

important element of Haitian culture.

Fleurant has written extensively about the importance of Vodou in Haitian culture
and the conflicts between Haiti’s lower and upper classes. F leurant has also addressed
the relationship that various social classes—including the elite—have with Vodou, notng
how “many members of the middle and upper classes, in time of need, patronize Vodou
rituals and avail themselves of the advice and services of the oungan and manbo”

(F leurant in Galembo 1998, 100). An example of this includes Haitians who seek the
advice of medical doctors when a family member is ill; they will often follow up that
appointment with a visit to a dokte‘féy (leaf doctor) who will use the natural and spiritual

healing methods formd in Vodou to cure them.

While many from the middle and upper class have disassociated themselves fiom
Vodou in the past, and while there are those who continue to do so, an increasing number
of people recognize the significance of Vodou as an important part of Haitian history and
culture. This is reflected in the musical output of several twentieth-century Haitian

composers, in Haitian scholars who are doing what they can to educate others about their

 

traditional values of unity, sense of justice, and equality? What can Vodou teach us
about grass roots movements? What can Vodou offer in terms of equal rights for
women? How does Vodou empower women in rural areas, in the cities, overseas? How
can Vodou teach mothers how to educate their children? What lessons can society at
large learn from the treatment of women in Haitian Vodou?” (July 15, 2009).
KOSANBA (The Congress of Santa Barbara) is the scholarly association for the study of
Haitian Vodou. The reaction of conference attendees in support of Michel’s presentation
demonstrated the value Vodou holds for Haitians of all social classes; many from Haiti’s
elite class and upper-class Haitians from the diaspora were in attendance, as well as
manbo yo and ougan ya from rural Haiti and the diaspora.

country and culture, as well as in the areas of literature, fine arts, theater and other

performing arts, and popular culture.

Since classical music is seen as an “acceptable” form of music in many societies,
without the stigma associated with some types of popular musical forms, I suggest that
the musical compositions by Werner Jaegerhuber and other Haitian composers serve as a
starting point to teach and expose others to Haitian music and culture.6 This may be
especially true for non-Haitians with preconceived notions and/or inaccurate knowledge
of Haiti, and for Haitian-Americans and second generation Haitians in others countries
who may be further removed from their Haitian culture and heritage. From an
educational standpoint, people may be more accepting and open to learning about a
culture such as Haiti that is associated with many false and negative stereotypes and

misconceptions if approached from a different direction.

Haitian composers like Werner Jaegerhuber (1900-1953) and Julio Racine (b.
1945) had similar intentions to those of other composers like Antonin Dvorak and Hector
Villa-Lobos when they incorporated traditional music in their classical compositions—to

expose others to music from their country and to express national pride.

In addition to expressing their Haitian identity through their musical
compositions, Jaegerhuber and Racine also had educational goals in mind, that is, to

teach others about the traditional music and culture of Haiti. This thesis addresses the

 

6 In this thesis I discuss the issue of some upper-class Haitians identifying with their
European roots—including French language—and excluding their African heritage. It
may seem contradictory that I suggest Haitian art music—in essence, European musical
language—is a means by which other can learn more about Haitian culture. However, in
chapter two I will explain why I believe this is so, and will demonstrate how Haitian
composers have been successful in educating others about their culture through art music.

interest that many twentieth-century Haitian composers had in education, and their
overall educational contribution to understanding Haitian music and challenging

ambivalence towards Vodou.

By composing nationalistic music, much of which was based on Haitian
indigenous music, and inspiring others to write their own nationally-identified music,
Jaegerhuber provided a unique opportunity for others to learn about Haiti’s traditional
music through his classical compositions. In addition to his influence on other
composers, his ethnographic research and his musical contributions, Jaegerhuber also
assisted Haitian folklorists with their collection of folk sources for their performances

(Largey 2006, 235).

Education plays a large role in shaping one’s views towards indigenous culture
and religion, whether it be indirectly—learning by observing people’s interactions in a
home environment or in the community—or directly—through teachings in the
classroom. Since ambivalence often exists—at least in part—due to ignorance, this thesis
also examines how class conflicts and ambivalent attitudes have affected Haiti’s
educational system. Fleurant asserts that the conflicts between Haiti’s social classes have
been and continue to be at the root of the problems within Haiti’s educational system
(F leurant 1973). Others cite the Haitian educational system as contributing to

ambivalence among Haitians (Bourguignon 1969; Wilcken 1992).

The information contained in this thesis is based on existing literature on Haitians
living in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora and studies on Haitian culture, identity and

religion. In addition to drawing from research done by other scholars and research I have

conducted, this study includes material obtained fiom interviews with Haitian and non-

Haitian musicians, educators and scholars.

This study is interdisciplinary in nature and is connected to contemporary
scholarship and literature on Haitian music (Largey 1994, 2004, 2006; Dauphin and
Grenier 2009; Fleurant 1987, 1996), issues of nationalism and identity (Miller 2007;
Largey 2006), anthropology (Richman 2005; Smith 2001; Herskovits 1937/1975;
Métraux 1960, 1972; Bourguignon 1969; Farmer 1994), sociology (Smith 2001; Hurbon
1995), religious and cultural studies (Mo Alister 2002; Butler 2008; Brown 2001), and
folkloric studies (Wilcken, 1992; Courlander 1939, 1960; Price-Mars 1928/1973; Ramsey
2002). While there are contemporary scholars who have worked on the music of Haitian
composers (Largey, Grenier), Grenier’s focus has been more on Jaegerhuber’s larger
choral works and Largey examines Haitian composers up until the mid-19508. To my
knowledge this is the first study examining Haitian composers ficm the 19508 forward,
and the first to focus on the educational goals and contributions of J aegerhuber and other

Haitian composers influenced by him.

Conflicting views towards Vodou are found in all social classes in Haiti and
throughout the diaspora, thus, Chapter One, “Cultural Ambivalence in Haiti and the
Haitian Diaspora,“ addresses ambivalence and how it manifests itself in daily life.
Chapter One also touches on how these opposing attitudes relate to classical music that
utilizes the indigenous ceremonial and traditional music of Haiti. For this discussion I
draw from the research of ethnomusicologist Lois Wilcken. Wilcken has written on
power and ambivalence regarding Vodou in the Haitian diaspora. As the Executive

Director of La Troupe Makandal, a folkloric group based in New York City, Wilcken has

done extensive research on Haitian folklore. Makandal performs frequently throughout
New York City and the surrounding areas, in festival settings that mark significant dates
associated with Vodou, as well as in educational programs through schools, cultural

centers, and other institutions. Wilcken often experiences the controversial feelings and
conflicting views that many Haitian immigrants have towards Vodou, even when found

in a non-religious context such as folkloric performances.

In order to understand why the issue of ambivalence towards Vodou is significant,
the first chapter begins with a brief discussion about the role of Vodou in Haitian society
and the forces in the early to mid-twentieth century that led many Haitians to embrace
their African identity, including the ceremonial music of Vodou. In addition, I examine
the views of several scholars regarding ambivalence in Haiti. Their research provides a
basis for discussion on the cause of ambivalence for Haitians in Haiti and throughout the
diaspora, as well as a starting point to analyze the different ways of being ambivalent in

Haiti depending on one’s social class.7

In Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music and Cultural Nationalism, Largey notes how
composers made use of Haitian folk sources and influences from Vodou to “claim a
unique, Haitian cultural identity” during the United States occupation of Haiti (3). 8 In

my own fieldwork, I have found that in its attempt to unite Haitians at home and abroad,

 

7 I should note that while ambivalence encompasses negative attitudes, it also has its
positive aspects. For example, some elites are drawn to Vodou as a source of cultural
identity.

8 While Largey has done extensive research on Jaegerhuber, his work extends to other
Haitian composers as well, including the music of Occide Jeanty and composers from the
early twentieth century (Ludovic Lamothe, Justin Elie). His research encompasses
orchestral works as well as piano compositions. See Vodou Nation (2006) for information
on these composers and their music.

mizik savant ayisyen promotes a sense of Haitian identity by crossing class and social
boundaries, as well as international borders.9 I have observed this in classical music
settings in Haiti, while teaching at the Sainte T rinité (Holy Trinity) music camp and
school and performing in the Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte T rinité, performing and
presenting lecture-recitals on Haitian classical music throughout the United States, Haiti,
and Canada, and observing traditional and folkloric performances of Haitian music in

Haiti and the United States at music festivals in Boston, Massachusetts and New York
City.

Since J aegerhuber is the inspiration and influence behind the composers discussed
in this study, chapter one will also give an overview of Jaegerhuber’s contribution to
classical music, his interest in education, and his educational goals in composing music
based on the traditional music of Haiti. Finally, I look at how Jaegerhuber fought
ambivalence by connecting his art music with the music of Haitian Vodou. As a pioneer
in the ethnographic study of Haitian folkloric music, a composer who wrote art music
based on Haitian indigenous music, and as someone with a strong interest in educating
others about Haitian culture, J aegerhuber made many musical and educational
contributions to Haitian society. He challenged Haitians to confront conflicting feelings
towards Vodou and to identify with their African roots. At the same time, he attempted

to educate non-Haitians about the music and culture of Haiti.

 

9See Haitian Classical Music, Vodou and Cultural Identity: An Examination of the
Classical Flute Compositions by Haitian Composer Werner A. Jaegerhuber (2005,
D.M.A. document, Michigan State University), which focuses on chamber music for flute
by Haitian composers, especially compositions by Werner J aegerhuber and Julio Racine.

Chapter Two, “Challenging Ambivalence Through the Composition of Vodou-
Derived Music,“ examines the music and educational contributions of Haitian composers
Frantz Casséus (1915-1993) and Julio Racine (b. 1945) in—depth, and touches upon the
similarities in ideology and methodology shared by Claude Dauphin (b. 1949), Amos
Coulanges (b. 1954) and Cannon Brouard (1909-2005). All of these composers are also
educators and were influenced by Jaegerhuber. Many of them shared similar missions in
protecting, promoting and preserving the music of Haiti, which they accomplished

through the composition of art music based on Haitian traditional music.10

In addition to utilizing indigenous elements in much of their classical
compositions, many of their compositional titles reflected each composer’s connection to
the traditional music of Haiti. This study examines how the compositions and
educational contributions of these composers both connect to and differ fiom those of
J aegerhuber (and each other) in educating the public about Haitian culture. It also
addresses how these composers have used Vodou-derived music to challenge
ambivalence towards Vodou in Haitian society, and whether or not the composition,
performance, and reception of Haitian classical music today has succeeded in diminishing

these ambivalent feelings.

In Chapter Three, “Leading by Example: Fighting Ambivalence in Haiti Through
a Humanistic Hands-On Approach,“ I discuss the work of Haitian ethnomusicologist

Gerdes Fleurant in his community to break down class barriers, educate Haitian teachers

 

'0 In addition to the composers listed here, Jaegerhuber had a strong influence on his
students and other composers, including: Edouard Wooley (1916-1991), Robert Durand
(1919-1995), Férere Laguerre (1935-1983), and Lina Mathon-Blanchet (1903-1994),
among others.

10

and families about the importance of education, health, and hygiene, and develop a haven
where indigenous Haitian culture—including art, music, and dance—can flourish. At the
same time, Fleurant works to educate non-Haitians about the value of Haitian Vodou as

the heart of Haitian culture.

Chapter Three also examines the ethnographic research and musical contributions
of F leurant, who has undertaken extensive research on the ceremonial music of the Rada
rite of Vodou. An examination of the relationship between the research done by F lem'ant
and Jaegerhuber illustrates their similarities in methodologies and demonstrates the
relationship that Haitians have with Vodou. Through their ethnographic research, both
J aegerhuber and Fleurant provide non-Haitians with a means to learn about Haitian
music—Fleurant through his western system of analysis and Jaegerhuber through his

transformation of ceremonial songs into art songs.

Finally, this chapter presents and analyzes Fleurant’s ideas for addressing Haiti’s
many difficult issues, including past and present problems of class conflicts in Haiti, how
these disputes continue to negatively impact and contribute to challenges within Haiti’s
educational system, and how the educational system contributes to ambivalence among
Haitians. Fleurant’s article “Caste, Class Conflict and Status Quo in Haiti” (1973) was
written at a time when there were no scholarly studies of class conflict in Haiti. In his
article, Fletn'ant argues that throughout history “color prejudice” has been the catalyst for
class conflict in Haiti, and that the Haitian educational system serves to “maintain
boundaries” between the various classes, thereby causing and maintaining the “chronic

underdevelopment of Haiti” (F leurant 1973, 178). While F leurant’s article was written

11

thirty-five years ago, chapter three provides evidence that the same argument can be

applied to Haiti today.

The conclusion illustrates again how examining ambivalence towards Vodou in
Haitian society enables us to better understand the relationship between Haiti’s social
classes, the issues surrounding Haiti’s educational system, and the challenges Haitians
face at home and throughout the Haitian diaspora. By confronting these issues, Haitian
and non-Haitian composers, educators, and professionals in other fields are finding ways
to fight back and kase Chen—break the chain—that hold back progress. This is
especially true in rural areas like Haiti’s Central Plateau, where Fleurant has built a
cultural center that serves his rtual community, and where American physician-
anthropologist Paul Farmer founded a hospital that serves a large population throughout
the entire region. Both institutions are run by Haitian staff, thereby providing much-
needed employment to rural Haitians, and allowing Haitians in these areas to take

ownership of and pride in these facilities.

Outside of Haiti, Haitians in the diaspora are perhaps the group most affected by
ambivalence, due to the stereotypical depictions of their country and culture through
Hollywood and the foreign media. Educating non-Haitians about the value and
significance of indigenous culture in Haitian society, raising awareness about issues
pertaining to Haiti and working to dispel myths and stereotypes associated with Haitian

Vodou are ways in which to address ambivalence.

12

Chapter 1. Cultural Ambivalence in Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora

“Some second-generation Haitians are thinking seriously about themselves as Black or Afiican-
Americans. .. In 1990 a group of second-generation Haitian teenagers based in Brooklyn formed a folkloric
group called Tonel Lakay (Society’s Arbor, a reference to thatched arbors that serve as peristyles in the
Haitian countryside).l Some wear cowrie shells and other symbols of identification with Africa and take
classes in African dance. Whether this is a step toward the resolution of ambivalent feelings about Haiti’s
African past remains to be seen.”

«Lois Wilcken (1992, 25)

Many Haitians at home and in the diaspora have conflicting and ambivalent
feelings about Vodou, the religious practice of the majority of rural Haitians. Yet,
despite the historical antagonism that many elites have had toward Vodou, there are
people who have struggled to reconcile these class-based conflicts in order to come up
with a way to value Vodou for contemporary Haitians. By examining the significance of
Vodou as part of Haitian identity and the forces of change that have impacted Haitians’
views towards Vodou—both positively and negatively—we can better understand why

Vodou is a source of ambivalence for some Haitians.

Positive aspects of Haitian elites’ relationship with Vodou include some of
Claudine Michel’s points mentioned in the introduction of this study regarding what we
can learn from Vodou: a pride in Vodou as part of Haitian national identity and culture,
the idea of sharing and taking care of one another, grassroots movements starting with
peasant organizations rather than a top-down approach, and the empowerment and
positive treatment of women are just some of the important aspects. Negative aspects of
this relationship led upper-class Haitians to look negatively upon Vodou and the

peasantry due to the conflicts that surrounds them: the negative propaganda generated in

 

' A peristyle is a large covered area partially open at the sides where most ceremonies
take place.

13

the media, misinformation about Vodou as black magic, and the placement of blame on
Haitians for the origination of AIDS contributed to slanted worldviews of the
international community towards Haiti and Haitians in general. In order to gain
acceptance by those outside of Haiti, many middle and upper-class Haitians sought to
distance themselves from Haiti’s lower class and fiom any religious or cultural aspect of

society that was looked down upon by others.2

While the first United States occupation of Haiti from 1915-1934 succeeded in the
Haitian population temporarily setting aside their differences, and led many Haitian—
including elites—to look at Vodou and Vodou-influenced music in a new light, there
were still many conflicts that kept the social classes apart. Color prejudice is and has
always been a source of conflict among Haitians, as has class standing——those with
power and money and those without. Many upper-class, 1i ght-skinned Haitians have
aligned themselves with their European heritage to gain acceptance fiom the international
community, shunning most everything that would connect them to their Afiican heritage.
This includes language in their preference to speak French rather than Creole, religion in
their affiliation with the Catholic, Protestant or Episcopal Church and their disdain of
Vodou, and an appreciation of art music and “high-end” art as opposed to traditional

music and the indigenous art for which Haiti is known.

In order to understand the significance of some elite Haitians’ embrace of Vodou
despite its culturally volatile status in Haitian society, this chapter begins with a brief

discussion about the role of Vodou in Haitian society and the forces in the early to mid-

 

2 The AIDS epidemic in America and how it affected Haitians, especially those residing
in the United States, is discussed later in this chapter.

14

twentieth century that led many Haitians to embrace their Afiican identity, including the
ceremonial music of Vodou. I follow with a discussion of the rise of nationalism and
African identity and the manifestation of ambivalence in Haiti. After examining the view
of several scholars who have written about ambivalence in Haiti, I look at how
stereotypical depictions of Haitian religion and worldviews contribute to the conflicting
attitudes felt by many Haitians in Haiti and throughout the diaspora. I also discuss the
different ways of being ambivalent in Haiti depending on one’s social class, particularly

as it relates to the role of Vodou in Haitian society.

In this chapter I also address how these feelings relate to classical music that
incorporates indigenous elements taken fi'orn Haitian ceremonial and folkloric music. By
composing art music based on Vodou-derived music, Haitian composers in the twentieth
and twenty-first centuries worked to challenge the ambivalent thoughts that some
Haitians have towards Vodou, and to educate non-Haitians about indigenous Haitian

music, culture and religion.
The Role of Vodou in Haitian Society

More than a religious practice, Vodou is an integral part of Haitian culture and
identity; it is a way of life for Haitians in Haiti and throughout the diaspora. Vodou
places a strong emphasis on family and community and “focuse[s] on the spiritual and
emotional well-being of its practitioners” (Largey 2006, 3). Many Haitians who “serve

the spirits” also consider themselves to be good Catholics and good Christians.3

 

3 In Haiti, people do not say that they practice Vodou or follow Vodou, but say that they
serve the Iwa (spirits). Haitians pray to the Iwa much in the same manner that Catholics

15

Structurally speaking, there is a well-defined hierarchy in Vodou; each participant
plays an important role in serving the spirits. The Vodou priest (ougan for a male priest
and manbo for a female priest) is the spiritual leader of the temple, followed by officers,
initiates, and community members, all who work together for the benefit of the
community and come together to assist one another in times of need. Vodou is also a
justice system based on moral values, and educational system based on oral tradition, a
health-care system based on natural and spiritual healing methods, and an expression of

culture that encompasses art, music and dance.

Vodou is what enabled Haitians to endure the hardships and torture during the
times of slavery. Sociologist Laennec Hurbon describes Vodou as “express[ing] a
particular interpretation of the world, a way of making sense of the world and of human
existence. . .as such, it is part of human patrimony. In its ties with the struggle against
slavery and against the American occupation, Vodou attests, moreover, to having positive
aspects in the quest for expression of human dignity and liberty” (Hurbon 1996, 196).
Vodou plays an important role in Haitians’ understanding of their historical past, present
and future, and continues to aid Haitians as they face the challenges and hardships in their

world today.4
The Rise of Nationalism and Afi'ican Identity

The first United States occupation of Haiti resulted in a surge of nationalism

among a large portion of the middle-class and Haitian elite, and led many Haitians to

 

pray to Saints. Anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown states those who “serve the
Vodou spirits consider themselves to be good Christians” (Brown 2001, 111).

4 For more extensive information on historical background of Vodou and a link to other
sources, see Largey, Vodou Nation.

16

embrace their African heritage and identify with the music, culture, and religious
practices of their Afiican ancestors.5 Anthropologist Kate Ramsey explains how Haitians
utilized indigenous culture to promote a sense of nationalism and Haitian identity. In
“Without One Ritual Note: Folklore Performance and the Haitian State, 1935-1946,”
Ramsey notes that following the first US. occupation, “from the early 19405 on, the
Haitian state was highly invested in constructing new images of Haitian national culture
and identity through dance and music folklore” (Ramsey 2002, 17). According to
Ramsey, Jean Price-Mars—doctor, teacher, and founder of the Institut d’ Ethnologie—
was the driving force behind Haitians’ realization of their culture as a nationalistic
emblem (Ramsey 2002, 7-8). Price-Mars called upon Haitians to reevaluate their culture
“through the intense study of [Haitian] folklore” (9).6 Some elite Haitians, like composer
Werner Jaegerhuber, heeded Price-Mars’s calling. Jaegerhuber did this by conducting his

own ethnographic research and documenting the folksongs of Haitian peasants.

During the 19203, Price-Mars encouraged both elites and peasants to come
together, take pride in their uniquely Haitian culture, and resist the cultural and political
dominance of the American occupation by identifying with their country’s Vodou

traditions and African-derived folklore (Largey 2006, 43).7 Both Largey and Ramsey

 

5 During the American occupation elites Haitians were treated like second-class citizens
by the American troops and lower-class Haitians endured physical torment. If Haitians
were unable to pay a road tax they were forced to work in corvée yo—similar to “chain
gangs”—where they were tied to each other with ropes and forced into hard labor
building and repairing roadways throughout Haiti. This not only demoralized Haitians,
but was seen as a return to the conditions they endured as slaves.

6 The Bureau d’ Ethnologie de la Republic d ’Haiti was founded by Jacques Romain, a
Haitian novelist, on October 31, 1941. Shortly thereafter Price-Mars founded the Institut
d ’ Ethnologie.

7 In many respects, Haitian elites faced similar challenges along with their lower-class
compatriots during the American occupation of Haiti. In her article “Power,

17

note how Price-Mars urged artists to turn to Vodou-themed sources and Haitian folklore
as inspiration for their artistic endeavors (Largey 2006, 52; Ramsey 2004, 9).8
Throughout the US. occupation, Price-Mars inspired Haitian elite composers to connect
with their historical past and urged them to look towards their African heritage rather
than identifying with France and the West (Ramsey 2002, 9).9 As a result of Price-
Mars’s call, some Haitian composers, beginning with Jaegerhuber, began incorporating
elements-melodies, rhythms, and text—taken from Haitian indigenous music into their
classical compositions. Jaegerhuber took this one step further by writing art music based

on the indigenous folk songs and ceremonial music of Haitian Vodou.

Price-Mars recognized the music and culture of the peasants as having value, yet
he felt that peasant culture was not polished enough be appreciated by those who were
educated and worldly. Although Price-Mars encouraged elites to connect themselves to
their rural folk past, he felt that folklore could not be “consum ” by elites in its

“lmrefined form,” and that it was necessary for elite composers, artists and writers to take

 

Ambivalence and the Remaking of Haitian Vodou Music in New York, Lois Wilcken
notes how “all Haitians, regardless of shade, were confronted with the racism of the
occupation forces” (W ilcken 1992, 7). In Vodou Nation, Largey notes that “Upper-class
Haitians were reminded of their tenuous class position during the occupation of Haiti,
when many white US. military personnel, ignorant of Haitian social codes, tended to
categorized all Haitians as inferior to whites despite their social status. Haitian elites
internalized this foreign threat and came to identify themselves symbolically with lower-
class Haitians” (Largey 2006, 10).

8 Price-Mars’s views can be found in his monograph Ainsi parla I’oncle (So Spoke the
Uncle) (Price-Mars 1928/1983, 170), his study of the folkloric and traditional practices of
Haiti. In his book Price-Mars saw Vodou as a religious practice (Price Mars 1928/1983,
39), urged Haitians to connect with their African roots, and criticized elite Haitians for
identifying with French and Western ideals.

9 In Vodou Nation, Largey explains how Price-Mars “exhorted Haitian elites to take their
place as leaders of the country, to reconsider their relationship to Haitian lower classes,
and to embrace the Afiican side of their cultural legacy” (Largey 2006, 15). According
to Largey, “Price-Mars thought that folklore could be put to use to bridge the class
antagonisms in Haiti” (Largey 2006, 51).

18

these folk auditions and develop them into something that could be presented to an
international audience (Largey 2006, 52). Largey notes the following in regard to the
role elite Haitians needed to play in order to restructure Haiti’s folklore in a presentable

format:

According to Price-Mars, the Haitian intelligentsia was responsible for
transforming the raw materials of Haitian folklore, its tales, legends, beliefs,
superstitions, riddles, proverbs, and folksongs into a national literature and music
respectively. Price-Mars claimed that Haitians were capable of structuring a
national literature which would combine the cultural values of the Haitian abitan

[peasant] with the formal criteria of European art. (Largey 2006, 52)

Like Price-Mars, Jaegerhuber also felt it necessary for the music of the peasants to
undergo a transformation; peasant music needed the influence of European standards and
ideals in order to be presentable to elite audiences (Largey 2004, 2). While popular
dances of the 19203 incorporated the rhythms of Vodou, Haitian art music during that
time period did not quote direct melodic material taken from ceremonial music. 1° Price-
Mars called upon elite composers to develop a Haitian national music that would be
inspired by the ceremonial music of Vodou; Jaegerhuber and composers inspired by him

heeded this call (Price-Mars 1928/1983, 182).

 

'0 However, there were several Haitian composers, including Ludovic Lamothe, who
utilized rhythms take from ceremonial drumming in their art music. Largey explains that
“Lamothe’s Vodou-inspired piano music set rhythmic elements from ceremonial contexts
in works with a distinct pianistic sensibility” (2006, 114). See Vodou Nation, pp. 114,
116-119 for examples.

19

 

Largey explains that Haitian elites like Jaegerhuber were able to integrate the
music of Vodou in their musical compositions without conflict, “By labeling Vodou-
derived music as fblklri [folklore], elites distance themselves fi'om the religious aspects of
Vodou music while maintaining a cultural connection with Haiti” (Largey 2006,15). As
in the case of elite Haitians, separating the religious and cultural aspects of Vodou also
allowed Haitian performers to participate in folkloric dance troupes and music ensembles

without feeling as if they were practicing Vodou.

While some elite Haitians were partially able to resolve their conflicting feelings
towards Vodou by separating its religious and cultural elements, others still had difficulty
accepting Vodou in any context. They continued to feel ambivalent towards Vodou, even

when presented in a non-religious folkloric setting.
The Manifestation of Ambivalence in Haiti

While the first occupation of Haiti by US. forces led many Haitians of all class
levels to identify with their African heritage, it also led to misrepresentations and
stereotypes associated with Haitian culture and religion, resulting in ambivalence among
many Haitians. Michael Largey notes how “foreign journalism and literature about Haiti
in the nineteenth century was based on exploiting Vodou’s dangerous reputation in order
to bolster foreign claims of Haitian backwardness and barbarism” (Largey 2006, 15).'1
An example of this would be the “frequent journalistic reports of cannibalism, human

sacrifice, and orgiastic rituals [that] reinforced Haiti’s alleged inferiority by presenting

 

” Hurbon notes that marines and the American observers in Haiti used derogatory terms
such as “savages” and “cannibals” to refer to cacos—Haitians peasants who resisted
American forces—in order to “better consolidate and awaken the racist prejudices of the
many Western readers” (Hurbon 1995, 185).

20

Haiti as a dangerous locale that would benefit from intervention from its “civilized”

neighbors” (Largey 2006, 6). As a result of this false propaganda and exploitation, Haiti

was isolated and ostracized by the rest of the world through most of the nineteenth

century.

While the misconceptions and sensationalized depictions of Haiti by the foreign
press led to many problems for Haitians, it did have one positive outcome. In his book,
Largey notes “Until the [first] US. occupation of Haiti, most Haitian elites distanced
themselves from negative foreign impressions of Haitian culture by identifying with
European cultural models” (2006, 6). Ironically, it was the false propaganda and negative
press generated during the occupation that eventually aligned Haiti’s elite with the lower
class in support of Vodou, and led the upper class to “turn to Vodou as a potential
defense against foreign cultural encroachment” (Largey 2006,15). While not all Haitian
elites showed outward support of Vodou or practiced it openly, more and more people
turned to their Haitian roots rather than accepting their cultural subjugation by the

occupying forces.

Ambivalence towards Vodou has negative economic, social, political and
personal ramifications for Haitians in Haiti and throughout the Haitian diaspora. It not
only causes conflict within and between social classes, it raises issues in connection to
race, religion, color and ethnicity. Ambivalent attitudes affect lifestyles as well as
business, government as well as the arts, young and old, rich and poor, the educated and
the illiterate. In short, because Vodou is a part of daily life for the majority of Haitians,

controversy about Vodou affect all aspects of life.

21

Several scholars have written on conflict in Haitian society as it relates to
ambivalence, beginning with anthropologist Melville Herskovits in 1937. Each scholar
differs in opinion on which social class feels conflicted about Vodou, their Afiican
heritage and the role ambivalence plays in communities. Some see ambivalence arising as
a reaction to societal conflicts and a result of unresolved issues of identity (Miller), or use
it to explain the changing attitudes and shifts of allegiance in society (Herskovits); others
see education, religion and language as sources for conflict which instigate ambivalence
(Bourguignon) or issues involving education, class system, and stereotypical depictions
of Haitians as shaping ambivalent behavior (Wilcken). '2 These differences demonstrate
that there are many reasons for ambivalence; they tell us that the importance of
understanding ambivalence in Haitian society requires a knowledge of the historical,
political and cultural forces inherent in past and present-day Haiti. I propose that
ambivalence exists as a safeguard for some Haitians against the vulnerability they are
made to feel about identity issues in their historical and cultural past. I suggest that there
are many who would otherwise openly accept—or at least not demean or look down
upon—aspects of their culture if it meant not having to face repercussions of being

labeled as ignorant and/or uncivilized, or in some cases, the fear of reprisal.

Herskovits spent three months in Haiti conducting research in the Mirebalais
Valley in the Central Plateau region, and saw ambivalence as being a characteristic of
Haitian peasants. His research culminated in his monograph entitled Life in a Haitian

Valley, the first ethnographic study published in English that focused on life in rural

 

'2 While Miller’s research was done in the Carriacou Islands of the Eastern Caribbean—
not in Haiti, her research results are applicable to my discussion of ambivalence in Haiti
when placed in a Haitian context.

22

Haiti. Herskovits used the term “socialized ambivalence” to describe the adjustment that
Haitian peasants had to undergo because their “two ancestral elements [African and
European]. . .have never been completely merged” (Herskovits 193 7/1975, 295). He
describes peasants as outwardly seeming fine, but inwardly having conflicting feelings.

In Herskovits’s words:

[Socialized ambivalence] describes this tendency to manifest those rapid shifts in
attitude toward people and situations that characterize the responses of the Haitian
peasant to such a marked degree that the same man will hold in high regard a
person, an institution, an experience, or even an object that has personal
significance to him, and simultaneously manifest great disdain and even hatred for
it. As outwardly observable, this takes the form of recurring and often rapid
changes in behavior toward the object of attention. In attitude, there is vacillation
from one emotional tone to another. In its broader implications. . .it is entirely
possible that this socialized ambivalence underlies much of the political and
economic instability of Haiti, so that, arising from a fundamental clash of custom
within the culture, it is responsible for the many shifts in allegiance that
continually take place, as it is for the change in attitudes in everyday association.

(Herskovits 1937/1975, 295)

The fear of reprisals (for being associated with Vodou) resulting in injury, imprisonment
or death were the underlying motivation for the ambivalence Herskovits encountered.
While Herskovits describes his theory of socialized ambivalence at length, even going so
far as to link it as a possible cause for Haiti’s political and economic stability, he does not

provide specific examples to support his assertions. He does, however, mention that

23

further research is needed, and that he is only “sketching” out the problem in his study
(Herskovits 1937/1975, 295). In his study, Herskovits uses language that assigns blame

on the psychology of the Haitian peasant for the troubles in Haitian society.

Herskovits’s conclusions are based on a limited amount of time in Haiti
conducting research—less than one year—and his focus was on Haitian peasants in only
one small area in the Haitian countryside. Herskovits’s coining of the term socialized
ambivalence was his reasoning behind why Haitian peasants were reluctant to discuss
Vodou with him. However, he did not take into account the practical reason why

peasants were reluctant to talk about Vodou. Michael Largey explains:

Herskovits committed a common mistake of anthropological research by failing to
account for the historical moment in which he collected his data. In 1934, the
United States ended a nineteen-year occupation of Haiti in which U.S.-backed
Haitian administrations sponsored what were termed ‘anti-superstition

campaigns’ against Vodou practitioners. Houses of worship were burned, ritual
objects were confiscated, and, most importantly, religious leaders were
imprisoned. Herskovits began his research almost immediately after the
occupation with the blessing of the Haitian government. When Herskovits asked
peasants about their participation in Vodou, they were not, in fact, ‘ambivalent’;

they were frightened to talk to someone who was sanctioned by the Haitian

24

government, the same government that sent soldiers into Vodou temples in order

to destroy them. (quoted in Miller 2007, 227) ‘3

It is surprising that Herskovits did not realize why it was that Haitians were reluctant to
speak with him, given the circumstances of the time period. Herskovits’s actions belie
his words; they are in direct contrast to what he professes in his book: “In studying
Haitian culture. . .the employment of both historical and ethnological data is almost
mandatory” (Herskovits 1937/1975, 325). Herskovits believed scholars needed to utilize
historical sources that were available in order to understand the ethnology of others, and
to utilize data from cm'rent ethnographic research to aid in the evaluation of current
groups under study (Herskovits 1937/1975, 326). Yet, Herskovits was not able to make
the connection between the anti-superstition campaigns and Haitians’ reactions to his
questions regarding Vodou, nor was he able to comprehend the duress under which
Haitian peasants found themselves. Conducting his research through the view of a single
lens—rather than looking at the situation of the peasants from various angles—

compromised the results of Herskovits’s findings as being subjective and one-sided.

Although one can take issue with some of Herskovits’s research because he did
not take into consideration the circumstances surrounding Haiti’s peasants, Herskovits
did have some sense of how Haitians were perceived by those outside Haiti. It should be
noted that Herskovits shared Price-Mars’s view that Haitian music should be associated

with its Afiican origins found in the music of rural Haiti rather than in the European-

 

” Largey himself does not state that Haitians have ambivalent feelings about Vodou;
rather, he looks at how Haitian elites “maneuver around Vodou despite their hostile
attitude toward it” (personal communication with author, 2008).

25

derived music of the elite (Largey 2004, 6). In his book, Herskovits was careful to note
that various aspects of Haitian culture—spirit possession, for example—need to be
looked at from the Haitian cultural point of view, as opposed to being judged by

standards set by foreigners (Herskovits 1937/1975, 294).

Anthropologist Erika Bourguignon challenges Herskovits’s research by asserting
that conflicting attitudes towards Vodou are found among Haitian elites, not the
peasantry, and attributing ambivalence to elites’ separation from the Afiican side of their
identity. In “Haiti et l’Ambivalence Socialise’e: Une Reconsideration” Bourguignon
discusses how religion, language and education are somees of controversy for elite
Haitians. She believes that the emphasis of academic studies on French literature and
French history causes Haitians to feel ambivalent about lower-class Haitian culture
(Bourguignon 1969, 176). This French focus in Haitian education extends back to the
early twentieth century when Price-Mars wrote “In our primary schools—the same in the
countryside—we use texts that are specially edited for French schoolchildren, that is to
say, children who are placed in other physical and social conditions. You can see the

absurdity of the system” (Price-Mars 1912, 316) (quoted in Largey 2006, 46).

Haitians share a dual identity—that of their Afiican descendents who came to
Haiti as slaves and that of their French colonizers.14 Yet, as much of life for Haiti’s
middle and upper-classes is affiliated with French language, culture, literature, history,

and Catholicism, versus Haitian Creole, indigenous culture, literature, Afiican history,

 

‘4 It should also be noted that the original inhabitants of Haiti were aborines of the
Arawak and Carib nations whose population died out when Haiti was under Spanish rule.

26

and Vodou, it leaves many Haitians with conflicting identities about their origins.[5

Largey explains

According to Price-Mars, the Haitian elite saw themselves as “colored
Frenchmen” whose biological link to the Haitian abitan had long ago been
overshadowed by the cultural influences of Europe. Price-Mars called elites to
reconsider not only their cultural affinities with Afiica, but also their social

responsibilities to the Haitian abitan. (2006, 50-51)“

Price-Mars felt that if elites learned more about lower-class Haitians, they would begin to
understand the similarities that they shared and become more accepting of them,

regardless of class (Largey 2006, 51).

One situation where conflicting identities arise is in the case of elite Haitians
whose day care providers are lower class Haitians; they teach the children in their care

about Haitian culture and folklore and speak to them in Haitian Creole (Bourguignon

 

'5 In Vodou Nation, Largey notes “Although all Haitians were biologically descended
fiom Afiicans at some point in their family histories, elites traced their social and cultural
backgrounds to France. The French concept of ‘culture’ was identified with ideas of
refinement and civilization, and Haitian elites largely accepted this European point of
view (Largey 2006, 34).

'6 Jacques Antoine notes that in Ainsi parla l’oncle Price-Mars said that Haiti “from her
independence and through the years that followed, had tried to achieve what she thought
to be her superior destiny: to fashion her thoughts and sentiments after those of her
former mother country, to look like and to identify herself with France” (1981, 136).
Price-Mars gave numerous lectures in which he chastised Haitian elites for their views of
the lower class. In his talk “Folklore and Patriotism,” Price-Mars stated “We must realize
that all of us belong to the same Haitian community that has emerged from the infamy of
slavery. The social separation timidly started during colonial days has only widened
since the time you and I replaced the former masters to enjoy all the privileges of
domination through wealth and authority” (quoted in Antoine 1981, 183).

27

1969, 175). '7 Elite children become fluent in Creole and learn to value the indigenous
songs and tales of Haiti at home, yet are raised in a society where these cultural elements
are socially unacceptable in many upper-class circles, and where their peers converse in
French. This disconnect between their two worlds creates feelings of confusion,

uncertainty and resentment.

These key factors mentioned by Bourguignon—language, culture, literature,
history and religion—are all part of what shape a person’s identity. The one factor that is

a constant in Haitian life and that Haitians must contend with on a daily basis is language.

Language has been and continues to be a source of controversy in Haiti,
especially in relation to Haiti’s educational system. In recent years, Haitian Creole has
attained status as a “natio ” language of Haiti alongside French. Creole’s legal status
as a “national” language is relatively recent, while French has enjoyed official status
since the birth of the Haitian state. The peasant and uneducated lower classes speak only
Creole. Although Creole is spoken in the lower grades and is used in some official
capacities, secondary and even primary schools in Haiti focus on teaching primarily in
French, and many elite Haitians refuse to speak Creole.18 One can still find news in print,
on television and on radio broadcasts in French, but there are more and more media

outlets in Creole.

In the United States, Creole’s status as a lower-ranked language puts it at a

disadvantage in comparison with languages like English and French. There are a number

 

'7 Haitian Creole is a language with vocabulary derived from French, Spanish, English,
and African dialects, as well as proverbs and words and phrases with double meanings.

‘8 Even though Creole is used in schools in present-day Haiti, it is spoken but not written;
all writing and reading is done in French (Prou, HSA meeting, November 8, 2008).

28

of Haitian newspapers in the diaspora that are in Creole, like the Boston Haitian Reporter
in Boston, the Haiti Progrés and Haitian Times in New York City, and Haiti en Marche
in Florida. However, in public schools in large Haitian communities children are forced
to learn English at a faster rate, without enough transitional time to adapt to the new
language. For example, F lorienne Saintil, a Haitian teacher in a Boston suburb, told me
that in Boston, where one of the largest Haitian diaspora in the United States resides,
changes in educational policies regarding language are now in effect. ‘9 Haitian
immigrant children in primary public schools are taught in Creole for their first year then
mainstreamed in classes taught solely in English thereafter, whether their fluency and

comprehension skills are up to par or not.20

Regarding culture, many Haitians adopt French culture as opposed to culture that
would reflect the African side of their identity. This includes everything from clothing
and hair styles to jewelry, artwork (in many instances, though Haitian artwork is popular
among the lower-middle class), and, in some instances, cuisine.2| It extends to popular

culture as well, including French films, music and theater.

The overwhelming majority of Haiti’s population consists of rural peasants living
in the countryside or members of the peasantry who have migrated to the capital to find

work. One could argue that if Haitians’ Afiican heritage was regarded as an equally

 

'9 Personal communication with author. November 16, 2008. Saintil is the wife of
ethnomusicologist Gerdes F leurant. Both Saintil and Fleurant are discussed in chapter
three.

20 Saintil, personal communication with author, November 16, 2008. This policy took
effect after Saintil retired in Boston. It may now be that mainstreaming is done right
away, as it is done in many Florida schools.

2' These examples are found-——in the vast majority of cases—to be true for elite, upper-
class Haitians. They are found in part with some middle class families, but not within the
lower class.

29

important contribution to Haitian identity as their French legacy, there would be little
need for ambivalence regarding Vodou; it would be seen as an acceptable and important
part of national identity and culture for Haitians of all social classes, whether or not they

followed its religious practices.

As an ethnomusicologist who has worked with a Haitian folkloric troupe for more
than twenty years, Lois Wilcken has experienced first-hand the attitudes Haitians have
towards Vodou. Thus, she has deep insight into the conflicting feelings associated with
ambivalence that Haitians have in Haiti and throughout the diaspora. In “Power,
Ambivalence, and the Remaking of Haitian Vodoun Music in New York,” Wilcken

explains Bourguignon’s position on ambivalence further:

[Bourguignon] maintained that socialized ambivalence is exclusive to Haiti’s
elite. She argued that either because they are not literate or because they lack
contact with the outside world, the Haitian masses are ignorant of their
incongruent origins and are better able, as a result, to integrate them. In her
analysis of a series of Rorschach tests that she administered to an elite youth
(1969), Bourguignon concluded that upper-class Haitians experience conflicting
attitudes toward neo-Afiican culture because in early childhood they are entrusted
to the care of working-class nursemaids who introduce them to the Iwa and to folk
tales about werewolves (lou gawou), zonbi-s, and other phantasmagoria. The
children advance to an education governed by French literature, Catholicism, and

science. Elite Haitians do not resolve the discontinuity in their upbringing but

30

rather vacillate between one set of values and another as adults. (W ilcken 1992,

Bourguignon’s comment regarding Haitians’ illiteracy and lack of contact with the
outside world was made forty years ago, but still holds true today. Yet, today more and
more peasants are aware of the way Vodou is perceived by others outside Haiti, and
aware that many Haitians have been exploited by outsiders. As a result, many are
cautious about discussing Vodou with foreigners until they determine their intentions.
Additionally, the conflicting attitudes Bourguignon notes in elite Haitians due to their
difficulty in coming to terms with both their Afiican and European heritage is a

continuing challenge for upper-class Haitians.23

It seems that Bourguignon’s argument thus pertains especially to Haitians in the
diaspora—rather than those in Haiti—as they would find themselves confionted with
multiple worldviews and value systems that conflict with or take issue with much of their
own. Bourguignon states “This socialized ambivalence is the expression of a kind of
alienation, of uprooting that the individual resents when he sees himself driven to his own
devices to integrate different kinds of experience, and, what is more, world views and
value systems that are often incompatible” (quoted in Wilcken 1992, 15). The
misconceptions found in the worldviews that diasporic Haitians of all social classes

encounter further drive them to distance themselves fi‘om their country and culture.

 

22 Some scholars choose to utilize “s” as a plural indicator, i.e. zonbi-s (Averill 1997)
whereas I choose to use the Creole yo.

23 Ramsey also discusses the challenges faced by Haiti’s middle and upper-classes. In
her article, she notes that when the dance troupe directed by Lina Fussman-Mathon
“began learning and performing choreography based on ritual, as opposed to simply
singing harmonized folk song, they began to be stigmatized by some of their peers fiorn
bourgeois families” (Ramsey 2002, 23).

31

While the research done by Herskovits and Bourguignon were separated by more
than thirty years and date back to the late 19303 and the late 19603 respectively, they both
share similarities in their definition and reasons for socialized ambivalence, even though
they associate it with different social classes. More recently, in 2007, ethnomusicologist
Rebecca Miller wrote about cultural ambivalence as it relates to the Carriacou quadrille
in Carriacou String Band Serenade: Performing Identity in the Eastern Caribbean.24
Miller’s definition and explanation of cultural ambivalence as it relates to musicians in
Carriacou is an apt description of opposing views as they relates to Haitians—both elites
and peasants—and Vodou. Miller makes this connection by briefly discussing
Herskovits’s idea of socialized ambivalence and applying his idea to her own situation.
Based on the results of Miller’s research, feelings about the quadrille in Carriacou is a

comparable parallel to feelings towards Vodou in Haiti. According to Miller:

The outcome of the contemporary Kayak association of quadrille with historical
European oppression can be characterized as cultural ambivalence, wherein
members of a society are conflicted over some component expression of their
cultural identity. Because cultural ambivalence signifies a rupture within the
historical understanding of community and self, its presence typically signals a
loss of some local traditions and holds serious ramifications for a small (and
typically disenfranchised) population, especially given the powerfully

homogenizing effects of global cultural forms. (Miller 2007, 63)

 

2‘ Carriacou is a small island located northeast of Tobago and Trinidad. It is part of the
nation-state of Grenada.

32

Understanding the ambivalence felt by Carriacou musicians regarding important aspects
of their cultural identity assists us in understanding why some Haitians feel conflicting
thoughts about Vodou. In her book, Miller discusses the positive and negative cultural
and historical aspects of the quadrille and how it is viewed by people on Carriacou.” She
explains “Quadrille thus is neither fully embraced nor completely rejected; the result,
then, is a collective ambivalence conditioned by a remembered past of powerlessness and
disenfranchisement” (Miller 2007, 63). If one replaces “quadrille” with “Vodou”,
Miller’s explanation is applicable to Haitians in Haiti and throughout the diaspora, as far

back as the first United States occupation and continuing through today.

Miller sees cultural ambivalence originating as a result of or a reaction to social
conflicts revolving around issues of identity. She explains that “While both forms of
ambivalence [social and cultural] are to various degrees rooted in cultural syncretism and
the formation of identity, cultural ambivalence is a contestation of the ongoing
significance of cultural expressions that have played a historical and continuous role in
the society,” and that “Cultural ambivalence typically emerges during a period of social
upheaval via conflicting representations and diverse perceptions of identity” (Miller
2007, 64).26 Miller backs up her assertions with data from both Bourguignon and
Wilcken, noting how Wilcken “argues that ambivalence towards staged Haitian folklore
in Haiti and among Haitians in New York City as representative of Haitian identity
“waxes in the absence of a strongly critical discourse on race and class” (quoted in Miller

2007, 64).

 

25 The quadrille is a traditional dance in Carriacou accompanied by a violin and
rcussion instruments.
Miller notes that these identity issues as a response to social conflict reflect, in part,
Erika Bourguignon’s model of syncretism and ambivalence in Haiti (Miller 2007, 64).

33

Miller continues, stating that “Bourguignon’s argument that societal ambivalence
interferes with identity formation is more problematic” (Miller 2007, 64), but she does
not explain why she takes issue with Bourguignon’s argument. Miller provides an
example that contradicts Bourguignon’s argument, at least in the case of one aspect of
Dominican identity. According to Miller, “Paul Austerlitz, for example, demonstrates
that Dominican meringue music has endured as a beacon of Dominican identity precisely
‘for its very success in articulating the contradictory forces at play in Dominican life,
including race, class, and ethnic discomfort’” (quoted in Miller 2007, 64).27 Yet, for
those with insight regarding the dilemma that Haitians face regarding Vodou—especially
young Haitians in the process of shaping their identity—Bourguignon’s argument is

indeed applicable; it is substantiated by the issues that Haitians face on a daily basis.

Both Wilcken and Bourguignon cite the Haitian educational system as
contributing to ambivalence among Haitians. Bourguignon sees ambivalence as an issue
for Haiti’s elite, educated class. However, Wilcken sees ambivalence as not being solely
applicable or restricted to one specific social class in Haiti. She states “For both the
middle class and the masses, anti-Vodoun campaigns, flmdarnentalist Protestant
movements, the Haitian class system and education, and negative stereotyping related to

foreign hegemony shape attitude and behavior” (Wilcken 1992, 16).28 In Wilcken’s

 

27 Paul Austerlitz is an ethnomusicologist.

28 One can find various spellings for Vodou, including Vodou, Vodoun, and Voodoo;
Voodoo is often associated with negative depictions of the religion and thus, is not used
by the majority of scholars. Wilcken chooses to use the term Vodoun in her writing,
while I chose Vodou because it is the official IPN (Institut Pedagogique National d’Haiti)
spelling mandated by the Haitian government in 1979. While I use the IPN orthography
in this thesis, the orthography used by several of my sources differs from IPN. Therefore,
there are times when different spellings for the same word are found throughout this
study; these are not grammatical enors.

34

argument, the educational system shapes Haitian attitudes and behavior (that can lead to
ambivalent feelings), and in Bourguignon’s argument, it is a source—a catalyst—for

ambivalence.

Wilcken collected her data through participant-observation of Vodou societies
and folkloric troupes in Haiti and New York over a ten-year period. For eight of those
ten years she was the business manager of one of the troupes she discusses. Wilcken
suggests that “nostalgia is a co-factor in Haitian identity construction and that it interacts
with a deeply rooted pattern of cultural ambivalence observed by myself and others”

(W ilcken 1992, 14). This would be especially true in the case of Haitians throughout the
diaspora, especially those living in communities without family ties, or in small

communities without a strong cultural or social support system.

Ambivalence in the Haitian Diaspora

Cultural ambivalence is a direct result of how Haitians—or any other ethnic
group—are treated, received, and viewed by others; thus, attitudes towards Vodou are
connected to issues of social class and diasporic pressures. Wilcken states that
“Stereotypes fostered by both strands of American discourse [that which apologizes for
the US. occupation of Haiti and that which defends negro primitivism] affect the way
Haitians in the diaspora perceive themselves and want others to perceive them. They also
influence cultural ambivalence” (Wilcken 1992, 23). While the US. occupation of Haiti
led to a resurgence of Haitians identifying with their African roots, it also compounded
the conflicting attitudes prevalent among Haitians in and out of Haiti due to the various

worldviews that arose among Haitians and non-Haitians.

35

 

Wilcken notes another issue that arises fiom the ambivalence that Haitians in the
diaspora face; Haitian folkloric troupes find themselves performing more and more for
non-Haitian audiences due to controversial feelings felt by Haitians in their commmtity.
Many non-Haitians associate traditional and folkloric music and dance with Vodou, and
because they believe the rhetoric associated with “voodoo” to be true, they fear it and
those connected to it. This, in turn, leads Haitians, even those who may not feel
ambivalent, to avoid activities that may lead others to make judgments about them. An
excerpt from Wilcken’s interview with a Haitian dancer performing in New York City,

addresses this issue:

I went to Brooklyn Academy, Brooklyn College, so many places. . .Now, I don’t
know what’s going on, because I don’t see my community, the Haitian
community. . .1 dance for the American people, the Spanish people, not for my
people because my people never take me anymore. (Interview: Elie 1988)”

(Wilcken 1992, 12)

It is interesting that some Americans—many whom are most likely familiar with at least
some of the rhetoric associated with Vodou—seem to have little issue with attending
folkloric performances that contain references to Vodou. Yet, many Haitians continue to

keep their distance and not attend these events.

Another possible explanation for Haitians not attending folkloric performances is
the financial situation in which they find themselves. Wilcken notes how “recent Haitian
immigrants are fiom increasingly poorer classes and lack the resources to support cultural

activities” (W ilcken 1992, 14). The fact that finances may prohibit some Haitians fiom

36

Ill

1

attending events that charge admission is understandable. However, the question remains
as to why Haitians are not supporting each other by attending free events—festivals—
held in the city, and why they lack the interest to partake in events that link them to their
Haitian identity and homeland. The answer—at least in part—lies in the ambivalence

formd in many Haitians as a result of the way in which they are viewed by non-Haitians
in the diaspora.
Worldviews as 0 Catalyst for Ambivalence

Misconceptions and negative perceptions of Haitian culture and religion by
foreigners are a catalyst for conflicted attitudes among many Haitians. These worldviews
lead many Haitians—especially those in the diaspora—to distance themselves from
Vodou, even if they participated in it in Haiti. Bourguignon and Wilcken both reference
worldviews and stereotypes by foreigner as sources for the ambivalence found in Haitian
society, in both Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. These worldviews and stereotypes have
been a constant in the American media and elsewhere since the time of the first United

States occupation of Haiti.

Although one might expect Haitians in the diaspora to be less likely to practice
Vodou and feel more conflicted towards it, the opposite is true for many Haitians. Part of
this is dependent upon the community in which they live, and their family’s views
towards Vodou. Patrick Sylvain, a Haitian American writer, educator, lecturer, and
photographer fiom Boston, is the nephew of Haitian ethnomusicologist Gerdés Fleurant.

In an interview, Sylvain explained how “Attending Vodou events goes beyond feelings

37

connected to his Haitian Identity” (quoted in Viddal, HSA meeting, 2003).29 When asked
if he would attend Vodou ceremonies in Haiti, Sylvain’s response was “No, in Haiti I
probably would not be practicing Vodou; I’d be a Protestant or something” (quoted in
Viddal, HSA meeting, November 8, 2008). Sylvain’s response is an example of the
different ways in which people express their cultural identity. As someone outwardly
supportive of Vodou in the United States, Sylvain admits that if he were in Haiti, as a
member of the upper class he would probably not be involved in its practice, at least not
openly. Sylvain summed up his thoughts on Vodou, stating, “If you are for the country,
for Haiti, you cannot reject something that is such a vibrant and viable part of our culture.
Vodou is quintessentially Haitian. . .It has survived elimination attempts by the Vatican,
by the government, by elites, by evangelists. It stands against imperialism” (quoted in

Viddal, HSA meeting, 2003).

Sylvain is able to openly express his feelings because he comes from a family and
a community with strong ties to Haitian indigenous culture. In 1996 his aunt and uncle
built a cultural center in an impoverished, rural area in Haiti.30 While I believe his mother
has conflicted feelings herself towards Vodou, Sylvain is confident enough in his Haitian
identity to express his views and thoughts, publicly as well as privately.31 In his
community, there are many other Haitians, some immigrants and others Haitian

Americans, who participate in Vodou ceremonies, celebrating sacred and special events

 

29 The author thanks Grete Viddal for her assistance in allowing me permission to cite
this information obtained fiom a paper she presented at the 2008 HSA conference.

30 I will discuss the work that Gerdes F leurant and Florienne Santil have undertaken and
its significance and relevance in chapter three.

3 l I base this comment on my experience spending one month with his mother in Haiti at
the Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center in the summer of 2003 and in
subsequent conversations with her in Haiti and the United States.

38

together. Greta Viddal, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University who is studying
transnational Vodou in Haiti and the diaspora, interviewed Sylvain and others in the
Boston area. While conducting her research, Viddal was surprised to find the number of
ougan yo and manbo yo practicing in the United States who did not grow up with that
tradition in Haiti. While their aunts and uncles may have practiced it in Haiti, their
parents did not. While they knew the prayers in Haiti, they did not learn the rituals
associated with Vodou or practice them until coming to the United States (V iddal, HSA

meeting, November 8, 2008).

Living in a community with other Haitians supportive of Vodou provides Haitian
immigrants and Haitian Americans with the support system needed to express their
Haitian culture and Afiican heritage. However, not all communities are as supportive as
Sylvain’s; there are many non-Haitians (and some Haitians) who are not tolerant of
Vodou, either out of ignorance, fear, or prejudice. Many of these feelings deal with the
issue of race—having been passed down through the generations—and date back to the

times of slavery.

Because slavery was still legal in the United States following the Haitian
Revolution, many American slave owners feared a similar uprising among slaves in the
US. Much of the negative propaganda against Haiti during those years was to counter
this fear, and to quell any thoughts of an uprising among slaves in America. Largey

discusses this further in his forthcoming book Haitians in Michigan:

Haitians in the United States also have to deal with the commonly held

misconception that the traditional religious practices of the Haitian rural workers

39

are synonymous with depictions of “voodoo” as a malevolent spiritual practice.
This concept of “voodoo” was founded shortly after Haiti’s independence in 1804
when US. slaveholders, fearful of a similar insurrection among their own slave
populations, encouraged depictions of Haitians as barbarous savages who
practiced “black magic,” used “voodoo dolls” and turned unsuspecting people

into “zombies.” (Largey forthcoming, chapter two)

Even today the negative, sensationalized—and often inaccurate—media coverage
associated with Haiti and Haitian culture continue to shape the worldviews of non-
Haitians, and to serve as a catalyst for ambivalence among Haitians throughout the world.
Common stereotypical and fictitious descriptions of Haitian culture and religion
portrayed in the written media and through Hollywood films—including zombies, black
magic, cannibalism and devil worship—affect the worldviews of people who accept them
as factual information, and encourage ambivalence among Haitians trying to distance

themselves from these depictions of their life.32

Another depiction of Haitians during the mid-late 19803 that affected their
acceptance in society was the AIDS epidemic in America. Many blamed Haitians as the
source of AIDS, and even today there are those who continue to believe this to be true,
even when confionted with the facts on where the disease originated and how it was
believed to have spread to the United States. In Haitians in Michigan, Largey explains
how the association with Haitians and AIDS (or SIDA, as it is referred to by Haitians)

began:

 

32 Largey has argued that these stereotypical depictions of Vodou lead to a manufactured
“simulacrum”——a model of reality—that develops in the absence of factual information
(Largey 1998).

A number of early cases of AIDS among Haitian heterosexual, non-intravenous
drug users led some researchers to suspect that Haitians were at a high risk for
contracting and spreading [AIDS]. As physician and medical anthropologist Paul
Farmer has pointed out, scientists and media reporters fueled a belief that Haitians
were carriers of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) and that it was Haitians who
transmitted the disease to the United States (Farmer 1991, 2-4). Even respected
medical journals published articles that were based on speculation linking HIV
transmission to Vodou ceremonial rituals. As Paul Farmer pointed out: In the
October 1983 edition of Annals of Internal Medicine, for example, physicians
affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology related the details of a
brief visit to Haiti and wrote ‘It seems reasonable to consider voodoo practices a
cause of the syndrome.’ (quoted in Largey forthcoming, chapter two) ; (see Moses

and Moses 1983, 565)

Largey firrther explains how these views towards Haitians and AIDS became

commonplace in medical practice in the United States. According to Largey, “By the

mid 19803, most health agencies associated AIDS transmission with four distinct

populations: homosexual males, intravenous drug users, hemophiliacs and Haitians. By

1990, Haitians and people who had lived in Haiti were barred by the US. Food and Drug

Administration from donating blood to US. blood banks” (quoted in Largey,

forthcoming, chapter two). These allegations also led to the devastation of the tourist

industry in Haiti at the time (Prou, HSA meeting, 2008). Haitian author Edwidge

Dandicat described how “Haitians lost jobs, fiiends, homes and the fieedom to emigrate”

because of the accusations surrounding AIDS (quoted in Prou, 2008). These issues—

41

A number of early cases of AIDS among Haitian heterosexual, non-intravenous
drug users led some researchers to suspect that Haitians were at a high risk for
contracting and spreading [AIDS]. As physician and medical anthropologist Paul
Farmer has pointed out, scientists and media reporters fueled a belief that Haitians
were carriers of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) and that it was Haitians who
transmitted the disease to the United States (Farmer 1991, 2-4). Even respected
medical journals published articles that were based on speculation linking HIV
transmission to Vodou ceremonial rituals. A3 Paul Farmer pointed out: In the
October 1983 edition of A nnals of Internal Medicine, for example, physicians
affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology related the details of a
brief visit to Haiti and wrote ‘It seems reasonable to consider voodoo practices a
cause of the syndrome.’ (quoted in Largey forthcoming, chapter two) ; (see Moses

and Moses 1983, 565)

Largey further explains how these views towards Haitians and AIDS became

commonplace in medical practice in the United States. According to Largey, “By the

mid 19803, most health agencies associated AIDS transmission with four distinct

populations: homosexual males, intravenous drug users, hemophiliacs and Haitians. By

1990, Haitians and people who had lived in Haiti were barred by the US. Food and Drug

Administration fiom donating blood to US. blood banks” (quoted in Largey,

forthcoming, chapter two). These allegations also led to the devastation of the tourist

industry in Haiti at the time (Prou, HSA meeting, 2008). Haitian author Edwidge

Dandicat described how “Haitians lost jobs, fiiends, homes and the freedom to emigrate”

because of the accusations surrounding AIDS (quoted in Prou, 2008). These issues——

41

 

worldviews, stereotypes, and depictions of Haitians and Haiti in general—are a constant

source of conflict for Haitians, particularly those living in the diaspora.

Wilcken provides several examples of how stereotypes about Haitian culture lead
to conflicts in identity and ambivalent attitudes among Haitians. Some of these examples
can be found in books like William Seabrook’s The Magic Island (1928), where his
description of a Vodou ceremony was made for Hollywood, referring to the worshippers
as “blood-maddened, sex-maddened, god-maddened. . .” (quoted in Wilcken 1992, 23).
Seabrook’s grossly sensationalized prose intended to strike fear in the hearts and dark

thoughts in the minds of his readers towards Haiti and Haitians.

Other authors and newscasters have used Haitian traditions, religion, and beliefs
as a basis for horror films. Many of these films, including the 1932 film The White
Zombie and the notorious 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow (based on the book by
Harvard ethno-botanist Wade Davis), use zombies and black magic to access the viewers’
imagination and fill it with inaccurate stereotypes of Haitian culture}3 Wilcken notes
how the Haitian media in the US. encouraged listeners to boycott Davis’s film, and states

that she has “heard Haitians use the word “rainbow” as a tag for American racism”

(Wilcken 1992, 24).34

33 Davis did research on the “potion” (attributed to as a chemical fiom—or similar to—
the toxin found in the puffer fish) that allegedly turned people into zombies. He wrote
two books based on his experience: one fictionalized account that drew upon stereotypes
Of Haitian culture and that was eventually made into a commercial film, The Serpent and
the Rainbow (1987), and the other an academic monograph of his research titled Passage
of Darkness The term zombie—zonbi 1n Haitian Creole—is actually a metaphor for a
slave, people made to work against their will.
34'It 13 interesting to note that in Haitian Creole new words are continuously introduced

into the language that describe products, current situations, crises, etc. For example, the

42

Wilcken’s research also provides us with evidence that reflects various views
Haitian immigrants encountered in Haiti before coming to the United States.35 The first
excerpt, taken fiom an interview with a member of Lina Blanchet’s folkloric group,
confirms how members of the bourgeoisie look down upon folklore and Vodou. 36 “[The
bourgeoisie] won’t let their sons or their daughters sing the Haitian folklore on the radio.
Especially if they went to Catholic School. . .my professor. . .went to my mother. “How
come you let Simeon be a member of this station and sing those voodoo songs?
(Interview: 1990)” (W ilcken 1992, 16) Many Haitians face adversity from both Catholic

and Protestant church officials in Haiti.

Another example of the church’s reaction is given by a dancer, who, after having
the experience of touring in the United States with a folkloric troupe from Haiti,
compared the success with which Haitians could perform folklore in the United States as
compared to in Haiti. He stated “There was no way to make a living [out of performing
folklore in Haiti]. . . because when we had a little chance to be performing, people would
be throwing stones. . .We were almost excommunicated. . .by the Church! Therefore, my

main goal was just to find a way to come back [to the United States]. (Interview: 1990)”

 

word kénedi was used for second-hand clothing that came to Haiti fiom the US. under
the presidency of JFK. Recently, in 2008, when rising food and gas prices created even
greater desperation among the poor and disadvantaged in Haiti, the terms clowox
(Clorox) and acid bateri (battery acid) were used to describe the burning sensation of
hunger Haitians felt deep inside (Dandicat 2008). That Haitians in the diaspora would
create words in English in the United States in a similar fashion is in itselfa reflection of
their Haitian identity.

35 Wilcken’s informants “belong to the generation involved in the folkloric movement of
the 19403” (Wilcken 1992, 16).

36 Lina Mathon-Blanchet (1903-1994) was a Haitian composer and the leader of a
folkloric group. She assisted Jaegerhuber with some of his research on Haitian folk

songs.

43

(Wilcken 1992, 17) In this instance, the dancer found American audiences to be much

more open to their performances, while Haitian audiences wanted no pm of them.

After acquiring an international reputation, the informant in this interview

returned to Haiti to visit his family. He described his visit as follows:

I amazed them, because they couldn’t believe I was interested in the cult. . .some
of them had already rejeté, meaning they had abandoned their Vodoun thing.
They went to Protestant. So the Church told them to stay away fiom that kind of
thing, it’s evil, this and that. So it was a fight, you can imagine, for me and them.
But I told them I’m not as a religious person who’s coming to adore or to practice
the cult. I want to see the dance, to see the rhythm and participate in it. So it was
kind of difficult for them to take, to convince them on an artistic level. They

don’t understand that way. (Interview: 1990) (Wilcken 1992, 17).

Wilcken explains “Destiné’s distinction between folklore as a religion and folklore as art
is a strategy common to folldoric artists who do not serve the Iwa. . .His family, however,
had difficulty making the distinction. . .Among outsiders, the religious connection is
valued differently, and non-Haitian audiences may demand it” (W ilcken 1992, 17-18).37
Like Largey’s reference to elite Haitians being able to integrate the music of Vodou in
their musical compositions without conflict if it was labeled as folklore (Largey 2006,
15), Destine’s experience exemplifies how middle-class Haitians face a similar dilemma

to the upper-class when looking at the music and dance of Vodou in a folkloric—rather

than religious context.

 

3’ Destine is the informant in this interview.

44

Questions and resentment from family members and fiiends are only some of the
problems folkloric dancers must endure; performers also have their own concerns
regarding the “dangers” of Vodou and the fear of the unknown, even as they separate the
dances’ religious and artistic aspects. Wilcken mentions an experience with a female
dancer who is a member of La Troupe Makandal; this young woman “thinks of folklore
as dance, in isolation from its cultural context, and she makes no attempt to acquire
contextual knowledge. 38 On further probing, she expressed reservations about the
‘dangers’ of Vodoun” (Wilcken 1992, 21). It is interesting to note how members of
folkloric groups can have fearful or conflicting feelings about Vodou as being dangerous,
yet they are able to go participate in the dances. These dances and drumming at times
depict enactments of possession trances, while at other times they may portray actual

possessions.39

Many Haitians who emigrate to the United States, especially those from the lower
and working classes, carry their fears and feelings about Vodou with them. Wilcken cites
an instance from a different interview where an informant commented on how “Haitians
bring their mythology about folklore to the United States, where it is passed on to their

children”:

The kids who come here, they don’t know all those things I’m telling you about.
Because they are new people, and they come with this kind of thing in their mind

that if you do folklore or if you do Vodoun you are supposed to be ignorant or

 

38 Wilcken is currently Executive Director of La Troupe Makandal.

39 F olkloric groups will often act out possession trances during their performance, but
there are times when the drumming itself will cause a person to become possessed
unintentionally.

45

uneducated or low class. . .So we’re losing our roots very fast” (quoted in Wilcken

1992, 20).

This interview illustrates how attitudes toward Vodou are connected to issues of social
class and diasporic pressures. Wilcken continues “Second—generation Haitians living in
New York grapple with the contradictions of their parents and the pressures of an
ethnically diverse society to construct an identity that will serve them. The difficulties
that this process entails are apparent in attitudes and behavior toward folklore” (Wilcken
1992, 20). The younger generation of Haitians in America is finding that they need to
create their own identity based on what is acceptable in their communities and to society

in general.

Rather than embracing their Haitian identity, young Haitians are playing it safe
and doing what they can to survive and to be successful. Wilcken notes how “some
second-generation Haitians are thinking seriously about themselves as black or African—
Americans [as opposed to Haitian-Americans]” (Wilcken 1992, 25). This continues to be
an ongoing issue in some Haitian communities in the diaspora. In 2001 Bito David, the
first public information specialist for the Haitian community in the Palm Beach County
school district in Florida, reported that “officials estimate there are 10,000 Haitian
students in grades K-12, an increase of about 200 percent over the past decade. But they
say accurate counts are difficult because many Haitian students classify themselves in
district paperwork and even census forms as simply black or Afiican~American”
(Colavecchio 2001). As more and more Haitian students in the diaspora see themselves
as African-American, they not only lose their sense of identity as Haitians, they forfeit

the traditions and customs which set them apart from others.

46

The ambivalence created from propaganda, views of outsiders, and insecurities
among some Haitian immigrants is leading many young Haitians to lose their cultural
heritage. Wilcken notes how “the art of folldoric drumming is not being passed on to
young Haitians [in New York City]” (W ilcken 1992, 20). She cites that a free folkloric
drumming class that Frisner Augustin, lead drummer for La Troupe Makandal, has taught
for the past eight years at Hunter College in New York City has no Haitian students, nor
does a separate drumming class given by another Haitian drummer in Manhattan
(W ilcken 1992, 20).40 While Haitians seem to be prone to attending folldoric dance
classes more than the drumming classes, their attendance is still inegular (Wilcken 1992,
21). This ongoing problem of young Haitian immigrants and Haitian-Americans not
wanting to associate with their culture is a growing concern. Ifthe younger generation
does not embrace Haitian culture, soon it will be at risk of disappearing entirely, once the

older generation is gone.

Perhaps the most telling example cited by Wilcken regarding the connection
between worldviews, stereotypes and ambivalence is one that reflects the views of an

outsider. She notes:

At the same time that negative media representations arouse feelings of
resentment, they also reinforce the tendency among Haitians to disassociate
themselves fionr neo-Afiican religious traditions. When La Troupe Makandal

played in a series of lecture-demonstrations in a high school in Suffern, New

 

’0 F risner Augustin stated that “one [Haitian] student stayed with the class as long as one
semester, and she reported strong opposition on the part of her mother” (W ilcken 1992,
20).

47

York, in 1984, its contact person said, “Please don’t talk about voodoo. Our

Haitian students are teased about it by the other students” (1992, 24).

Wilcken’s footnote to this excerpt speaks volumes; “Ironically, the series was titled
‘Performing Artists as Role Models to Increase Intercultural and Interracial Harmony’”
(Wilcken 1992, 29). La Troupe Makandal had a chance to educate the students and
perhaps break down barriers between the Haitian and non-Haitian students—the purpose
of the performance series. Unfortunately, the contact person thought that ignoring the

issue would be more beneficial to the Haitian students.

In a more recent incident, Wilcken describes an example of bias against
traditional music by a Haitian educator, which demonstrates how far one will go if he/she

perceive Vodou as a threat:

Yesterday two artist friends and myself experienced censorship of our work by a
New York City public school teacher, who is, sadly, Haitian. We were to conduct
a workshop this morning on veve, music, and dance for a group of teachers
enrolled in a summer institute on teaching traditional arts. Yesterday, the Haitian
teacher informed the institute organizers that she intended to sabotage the
workshop. Through persistent interruption she would stand in the way of what, in
her ignorance, she perceived to be as evil. On this list, I don’t think I have to
explain where she was coming from. Even more sadly, the organizers caved in,

most likely out of concern for their fimding. In doing so, they violated their

48

mission, principles of cultural democracy, and various rights and principles on

which this country is founded.“

This incident also illustrates how easy it is for others to be influenced by one person’s

belief, whether or not they share the same point of view.

The ambivalence shown by those who observe and partake in Haitian drum and
dance ensembles is, at times, echoed by those attending musical performances—even

classical music performances—that contain music derived from or inspired by Vodou.
Ambivalence and Vodou-inspired Classical Music

Among the Haitian middle class and elite who attend classical music
performances in Haiti, one can find conflicting views related to classical music that
incorporates indigenous elements taken from Haitian Vodou. Beginning in the first half
of the twentieth century, Haitian composer and amateur ethnographer Werner
Jaegerhuber composed music based on melodies inspired from Haitian Vodou ceremonial
songs. His Sinfonetta Legba composed for strings in 1934 evoked melodies associated
with the Iwa, Legba, and his Messe F oIhorique Hai'tienne—also known as Messe Tirée
de Thémes Vodouesques—consisted of several themes based on Vodou.42 While the
music of the mass sounded like the music of Vodou, it was not directly quoted from
ceremonies (Largey 2006, 228). These are just two examples of Jaegerhuber’s works

inspired by Vodou; there are dozens more that he composed. However, his Messe Tirée

 

4‘ Corbett list posting, July 9, 2009.
‘2 Legba is the guardian of the crossroads, the keeper of the gate. His Catholic
counterpart is St. Peter.

49

de Themes Vodouesques serves as the best example of how ambivalence relates to art

music compositions.

In 1954, Jaegerhuber’s mass was to be featured at the Roman Catholic Church in
Gona‘r‘ves, Haiti to commemorate Haiti’s 150th anniversary of independence. In Vodou
Nation Largey explains how “Monsignor Paul Robert. . .an ardent opponent of any
rapprochement between Vodou and the Catholic church, cancelled the performance when
he heard that the mass was based on “Vodou themes” (Largey 2006, 228).43 In addition
to the Monsignor’s opposition to Jaegerhuber’s music, some of the performers
themselves—“members of the Haitian bourgeoisie—were conflicted about whether they

should be participating in such a controversial piece of music” (Largey 2006, 228).“

Interestingly enough, J aegerhuber entitled the conductor’s score “Messe
Voudouesque, while he labeled the parts given to the choir Messe F oIhorique Hai‘tienne,
thus “disguise[ing] the mass’s associations with Vodou” (Largey 2006, 228).45 Given
that the text of the mass was also in Latin, as opposed to Creole or Iangaj (language and
phrases associated with Vodou ceremonies), it would appear that Jaegerhuber took great

means to divorce everything related to Vodou from the work (except the score title).

 

43 Largey also tells us that the Monsignor was “a Catholic cleric who was instrumental in
the ‘anti-superstition campaign’ of the 19403” and that the mass “was eventually
performed in a theater constructed at the Casemes Dessalines, the army barracks directly
behind the National Palace in Port-au—Prince” (2006, 228).

44 In a recent article Grenier and Dauphin concur with this sentiment. They write “among
Haiti’s Catholic and clergy as well as some of the laity of the time there was little
tolerance for the integration of elements of Haitian Vodou into the Roman liturgy” (2009,
53).

’5 Dauphin and Grenier note how “Jaegerhuber “changed the name of his work in order to
disguise his original intentions” (2009, 55). La société de recherche et de diflusion de la
musique hai'tienne (The Society for the Research and Diffusion——Distribution——of
Haitian Music) in Montreal, Quebec has a library that houses the manuscripts of Haitian
composers. Jaegerhuber’s Mass can be found under all three titles in the catalog.

50

However, Grenier and Dauphin share a different view; they assert that with his mass,
Jaegerhuber, “through a work of art, could propose a solution to this enduring symmetry
[between Christianity and Vodou]” (2009, 54), and how several movements of the Mass

“promote the musical heritage of Vodou” (2009, 73).

Grenier’s and Dauphin’s research and interpretation of J aegerhuber’s score for the
mass provide evidence to support their assertion.46 This includes Jaegerhuber’s setting of
the liturgy to a melody taken from Vodou ceremonial music." They go on to say that
rather than losing the melody by placing it in a polyphonic setting, Jaegerhuber
“[preferred] homophonic textures; his chosen melodies are intended to be recognized. . .”
(2009, 63), and note Jaegerhuber’s awareness of the “similarities between the modal
scales of Vodou and those of Gregorian chant” (2009, 67). Some other indigenous
elements that Jaegerhuber utilizes in the Kyrie of the mass include a 5/8 meter and

ostinato drumming patterns in the B section. The authors note,

In this joining of a Gregorian-inspired melody with a conventionalized fiagment
of Vodou drumming, Jaegerhuber expresses confidence in the possibility for a
dialogue between Haiti’s two principal faith systems, for he achieves here a

balanced, symmetrical structure based on this contrasting material. (2009, 69)

 

‘6 No manuscript of this mass is available; Grenier and Dauphin based their research on
combining material from two versions of the score housed at the Société de recherche et
de diffiwion de la musique hat‘tierme in Montreal.

‘7 Grenier and Dauphin liken this practice to that of Renaissance composers who set
liturgical texts to popular melodies associated with “profane origin” (i.e. drinking songs)
in their masses (2009, 62-63).

51

In the Credo Jaegerhuber uses the ceremonial melody “C’est Jodi moin” (see 2009, 71).48
Grenier and Dauphin delve further in their analysis to point out that this song “links the
texts of both Christian and Vodou sources” in the second solo section of the Credo,
which “points to the connection Jaegerhuber finds between these two traditions” (2009,

72).

In the last three movements of the mass “the reliance on Vodou melodies
becomes predominant while the Gregorian tradition disappears entirely from view”
(Grenier and Dauphin 2009, 73). According to Grenier and Dauphin, the Sanctus is
based on ceremonial song “Dambala oh” (2009, 73), the Benedictus “is loosely based” on
the ceremonial song “Vling sou vling” (2009, 74), and, in their words, the Agnus Dei
“presents two Vodou melodies from differing liturgies to help articulate its binary

structure” “Erzulie e” and “Laza oh” (2009, 76).

Dauphin and Grenier also bring up several other interesting points that delve
deeper in to the work and compel the reader to take a closer look at their study, noting
how “J aegerhuber’s selection and use of the musical forces required for the Messe also
display certain parallels with the conventions of Vodou” (2009, 79). They go on to

explain:

[Jaegerhuber] appeared to identify this [solo soprano versus a solo quartet] with a
Mambo. . .This call-and-response idiom, long identified with African religious

practice and retained in its New World setting in Haiti, conforms to the

 

‘8 For each ceremonial song used in the mass, the authors note the listing of the song in
Jaegerhuber’s ethnographic transcriptions and the song’s placement in his vocal
collection of ceremonial songs entitled Oflrandes vodouesques.

52

conventions of the concert mass. . .In the Messe we repeatedly see how this
Mambo-like solo voice can lead the chorus in a new direction (e.g. Kyrie), set the
pace of a new piece (e. g. Gloria), and can stand apart from chorus, as in the
Credo, to articulate a different perspective. Another feature of Jaegerhuber’s
scoring is the presence of a chorus of young girls. . .in the Sanctus

and. . .(children’s chorus) in the Agnus Dei. The composer seems to have insisted
on the youth of these initiates in these final two movements of the Messe because
the first initiation into Vodou. . .is equivalent to a similar rite of passage. . .The
inclusion of young voices in this choral mass is a specific link to the ceremonies
of Vodou. . .Turning to the text. . .The exclamation “oh” is sung by the

soloist. . .The significance of this addition is that it Creolizes the Latin, for this
exclamation is found in the texts of Vodou melodies Jaegerhuber cites, such as in

the very title of one of these “Dambala oh.” (2009, 79-80)

One can assume that the depictions of Vodou by those outside of Haiti have a great deal

to do with the reactions of elite Haitians—during Jaegerhuber’s time and today—towards

their inability to come to terms with the combination of Vodou and Christian elements in

this work.

While this particular example of elites’ reaction to Jaegerhuber’s music took place

more than fifty years ago, Wilcken’s research provides evidence that these feelings still

exist for some Haitians today in the twenty-first centm'y. The depictions that portray

Haitian culture in a negative light—whether they are done in ignorance or to intentionally

misinform the public— continue to affect Haitians of all class and social levels,

especially Haitians living in the diaspora. Already at a disadvantage because of the

53

language barrier, many Haitians feel shunned by society, and young Haitians in particular
are subject to taunting and cruel treatment at their expense. These inaccurate portrayals
also increasingly affect the worldviews that non-Haitians have of Haitian culture and

religion.

The next chapter focuses on Haitian classical composers who keep their cultural
heritage alive and promote acceptance of Haitian indigenous culture by writing music
inspired by Vodou and Haitian folk music. Through their art music compositions,
Haitian composers like J aegerhuber challenged the ambivalent feelings of others, and
provided an opportunity to educate Haitians and non-Haitians about the indigenous music

and culture of Haiti.

Chapter 2. Challenging Ambivalence Through the Composition of Vodou-Derived

Music

“All through my career, I have met numerous artists. Some came to Haiti and soloed with the orchestra,
some came and gave recitals...l have also met an infinite number of people from different corners of the
world The one thing I realize is that Haitian arts except for painting, is not known at all. It is always such
a big surprise when those visitors discover that, indeed, there is such a thing as Haitian classical music and
people who wrote the music are Haitians. Consequently, I have decided to expose that music as much as
possible. In fact, being an echo of the Haitian soul itself, music gives a good insight of the Haitian culture.
As a conductor, I managed to include at least one Haitian composition in almost every concert I have
conducted. As a composer, I write in a style that presents the fundamental of Haitian music. For many
years I worked with young musicians. I always tried not to define Haitian music for them, but rather
expose them to that music and let them discover its originality and richness.”

«Julio Racine (personal correspondence, 2004)

Throughout the world, classical music is often associated with specific places like
the United States, Russia, and many European countries. Even places like China, Japan,
and Korea that have only recently developed a strong tradition in Western classical music
are recognized today as important centers of Western musical activities. Classical music
is not something, however, one would usually associate with Haiti. Ask a person what
comes to mind when they think of Haitian music, and their response is often traditional
music and hand drumming. Yet, Haiti has a rich tradition of art music——mizik savant
ayisyen—which has existed for over a century. Art music as a product of Haiti is
exported to other countries throughout the world and thus serves as a vehicle for cultural

ambassadorship for Haiti.

In addition to educating others about the significance of Haitian culture, through
their music, the composers in this study also challenged the ambivalent feelings that some
Haitians have towards Vodou. These feelings are the result of some Haitians in Haiti and

abroad attempting to distance themselves from their African heritage, either out of

55

 

ignorance about the culture or to separate themselves from the negative perception others
have of Vodou. Composers challenged ambivalence by incorporating rhythms and
melodies taken directly from Vodou ceremonial music into their musical compositions,
and/or writing music inspired and based on Vodou—derived music. While it is possible to
interpret Werner Anton Jaegerhuber’s use of Vodou-derived music in his compositions as
an expression of ambivalence, in this chapter I will provide evidence that Jaegerhuber
and several other composers worked to confront opposing attitudes towards Haitian
indigenous culture, and that most of them were successful in further their social goals of

educating Haitians and non-Haitians through their music.l

This chapter begins with the contributions of Werner Anton Jaegerhuber, one of
the first to initiate this practice, and illustrates my belief that Jaegerhuber and the other
Haitian composers discussed in this study incorporated the melodies and rhythms of
Vodou into their art music composition in order to educate pe0ple about the value of
Haitian culture and indigenous music. It was also important to these composers to
expose people outside of Haiti to the music of their country—and to show others the
wealth of traditional music that Haiti had to offer. In this chapter, I also look at other
Haitian composers influenced by Jaegerhuber, including Frantz Casséus and Julio

Racine.2 While Casséus and Racine took their music in different directions, like

 

' While the world music market and Haitian roots music grew in popularity throughout
the twentieth century, the commercial market for Haitian classical music was—and in
large part still is—virtually nonexistent. However, the market for all types of Haitian
music continues to increase as the Haitian diaspora grows larger. As Haitian art music
gets more exposure and is performed more often, its popularity is increasing as well,
albeit at a much slower pace than popular genres.

2 While there are numerous Haitian composers, this chapter focuses on two of
Jaegerhuber’s students and colleagues who have been inspired by him, and those
composers that followed him and were influenced by his example.

56

J aegerhuber, they were interested in educating others about Haitian culture. Carrying on
where Jaegerhuber left off, Casséus and Racine continue to raise the level of Haitian
music, and promote and preserve the music of Haiti. I examine Jaegerhuber’s connection
to these composers, how their music was similar to and different from that of

Jaegerhuber’s, and the significance of their musical accomplishments.

Werner Anton Jaegerhuber

J aegerhuber was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 17 March 1900. His father was
a nattnalized American citizen of German descent; his mother came from an elite
German-Haitian family. During the first United States occupation of Haiti, Jaegerhuber
left Haiti to study composition at the Voight Conservatory in Germany at the age of
fifteen (Grenier and Dauphin 2009, 59). Although a member of the upper class,
Jaegerhuber developed a strong interest in the traditional music of his country. As
Largey notes, upon Jaegerhuber’s return to Haiti in 193 7, following the departure of US.
forces, Jaegerhuber “immediately immersed himself in the study of Haitian folklore”, and
attempted to “[establish] a national music based on the study of the nation’s folklore
(Largey 2006, 190). Largey goes on to explain how “Jaegerhuber believed that only
through careful collection and examination of the musical folklore of the country could
composers use folk music as a part of their art (Largey 2006, 190). To this end,
J aegerhuber spent many years conducting his own ethnographic research, focusing on the
ceremonial songs of Vodou from 1937-1945 (Grenier 2001, 41). He transcribed many of
the peasant folk songs and ceremonial songs he heard, then incorporated them into his

own classical compositions.

57

Although many elite Haitians did not want to be associated with the negative
propaganda surrounding Vodou, J aegerhuber was very creative in the way in which he
incorporated the music of Vodou into his musical compositions. In Vodou Nation Largey
explains that “by labeling Vodou-derived music as folklo [folklore], elites distanced
themselves from the religious aspects of Vodou music while maintaining a cultural
connection to rural Haiti” (Largey 2006, 15). This allowed members of the elite to
separate themselves from Vodou as a religious practice even as they utilized the music of
Vodou into their own musical compositions. While many of the over sixty compositions
J aegerhuber composed consisted of titles associated with Vodou, there were other pieces
where Jaegerhuber was discreet in his incorporation of Vodou melodies and rhythms; if
the audience was not familiar with Haitian traditional music, they would not recognize
what they were hearing as Vodou-derived music. Those who were familiar with
traditional music would find this adaptation of the music—-in a folkloric context—more

acceptable than in a religious context.

While several elite composers like J aegerhuber separated the music of Vodou
from its ceremonial context, there were Haitians who continued to be uncomfortable with
that connection. Largey notes how many of J aegerhuber’s elite colleagues did not share
his appreciation of Haitian music and culture; “Jaegerhuber invoked the ire of elite
Haitians who were ashamed of their culture’s Vodou antecedents as well as the disdain of
Haitian classical musicians who felt that the music of the Vodou ceremony was not

sufficiently sophisticated to warrant arrangements in European-style art compositions”

58

(Largey 2006, 187).3 Although Jaegerhuber’s Vodou-inspired compositions were looked
down upon by others in his social class, by continuing to compose music based on Vodou
he challenged those who had ambivalent feelings towards Haitian indigenous religion and
culture. At the same time, he worked to educate others about the value of Haitian culture.
Largey notes that “both Haitian roots musicians and art composers have used Haitian
traditional music as a means to educate Haitian audiences about the value of their

culture” (Largey 2006, 235).

Through his compositions J aegerhuber sought to change the view that foreigners
had towards Haiti and Vodou. He exposed the international community to Haiti’s
indigenous music and culture by presenting Haiti’s traditional music within the
acceptable, familiar form of Western art music. By introducing others to Haitian music
through a genre generally considered to be non-threatening, Jaegerhuber opened the door
for non-Haitians to gain an appreciation for Haitian music. Incorporating traditional
music in a genre that appealed to elite Haitians, as well as to an international audience,
enabled Jaegerhuber to introduce the traditional music of Haiti to people who may not

have otherwise been exposed to Haitian indigenous culture.

In addition to his musical contributions through his numerous compositions,
Jaegerhuber also spent time working on an educational project to benefit Haitian
children. Largey notes that “three years before his death, Werner J aegerhuber was
working on bringing Haitian folkloric songs to the Haitian public school system. In the

introduction to Jaegerhuber’s Complaintes Haitiennes, Roger Savain...reported that

 

’ Elsewhere, Largey notes “[Jaegerhuber’s] works, especially the Haitian songs that he set
to piano accompaniment, were most widely distributed as promotioml materials for
Haitian tourism, not as art songs intended for the concert stage” (Largey 2004, 2).

59

Jaegerhuber was preparing a book of folldoric songs in three voices for use in the Haitian
school system” (quoted in Largey 2006, 23 5). 4 According to John Jost, Professor of
Music and Director of Choral Activities at Bradley University, Jaegerhuber never

completed his book of folkloric songs.s

J aegerhuber’s overall educational contributions to understanding Haitian music
encompass more than his musical and ethnographic contributions; his influence reaches
beyond composing and collecting music. Largey notes how Jaegerhuber helped Lina
Fussman-Mathon Blanchet and other folklorists obtain materials for their performances
(Largey 2006, 235).6 Largey also explains that “Jaegerhuber’s work also influenced
other folksong collectors to employ their materials as the basis of a folkloric repertoire
that could be performed on the Haitian stage...By making folkloric performance a
‘national’ art that could represent Haitian culture, the Haitian government
institutionalized a practice that would eventually turn Haitian culture into an
internationally marketable commodity” (Largey 2006, 23 5).7 This move by the
government ensured that Haitian culture would continue to thrive and remain a vibrant
part of Haitian life, enabling it to withstand the storm of negative propaganda that

enveloped it.

 

‘ Roger Savain was the director of the Haitian government’s music agency.

5 Program notes from Haiti Benefit Concert, November 22, 2008. Jost is also the Music
Director of the Ecole Sainte T rinité Summer Music Camp in Leogane, Haiti.

6 Lina Fussman Mathon-Blanchet’s folkloric troupe “performed at the 1941 National
Folk Festival in Washington, DC.” (Largey 2006, 235).

7 In “Without One Ritual Note: Folklore Performance and the Haitian State, 1935-1946”,
anthropologist Kate Ramsey notes how the Haitian government supported the promotion
of Haitian folklore as a national culture of the country, even while they suppressed the

practice of Vodou (Ramsey 2002, 13).

Today, sixty-seven years after the premier of a Haitian folkloric troupe in the
United States, Haitian folkloric troupes continue to perform traditional music and dance
based on Vodou throughout Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Through these performances,
these ambassadors of Haitian culture challenge the ambivalence some Haitians feel
towards Vodou, and educate others about the significance of Haitian indigenous culture
and religion. Thus, Jaegerhuber’s promotion of Haitian indigenous culture reached
beyond what he contributed to music through his compositions; it extended to performing

artists in Haiti and throughout the world.

Jaegerhuber’s legacy and influence continued even afler his death, through
composers inspired by his example to create art music based on Vodou, folklorists who
took performances of Haitian culture beyond Haiti’s borders and throughout the world,
and Haitian and non-Haitian musicians who continue to perform and promote the music

of Haiti.

The significance of Jaegerhuber’s contribution to Haitian music is evidenced by
the many Haitian composers—contemporaries and those who succeeded him—who have
been influenced by Jaegerhuber’s music and his ideology. At home and in the diaspora
Haitain composers and musicians in the twenty-first century continue to draw upon and
incorporate the traditional music of Haiti in their compositions as they strive for a sound
that is uniquely and identifiably Haitian. With the incorporation of indigenous elements
in mizik savant, Haitian composers like Werner Jeagerhuber have founded a new style of

Haitian music.

61

Through his endeavors Jaegerhuber also offers insight into the political and social
issues of Haiti during the twentieth century; he provides us with answers as to why
Haitians were feeling ambivalent about Vodou at that time, and enables us to learn more
about Haitian music, culture and religion. In presenting ceremonial music to an
international audience through his art music compositions, J aegerhuber paved the way for
scholars and educators to delve further into his music and identify the traditional
elements he utilized in order to teach others about the indigenous music of Haiti. While
this may not have been J aegerhuber’s intention, this top—down approach to teaching
others about Haitian traditional music and its significance may be more widely accepted
by those who would resist or be uncomfortable with the presentation of traditional music

in its ceremonial context.

Jaegerhuber saw Haitian music as a reflection of the Haitian people. In his article,
“Le origins de la musique folldorique haitienne”, Jaegerhuber states “It is good to learn
the soul of a people, to show where they came fi'om, to follow the plan that leads to the
present. I nourish the hope that there will be a Haitian Art born of the same roots of the
old tree that feeds of good earthly substance, that will bear its fruits in the near future”
(Jaegerhuber 1943, 55).8 I believe this hope of Jaegerhuber’s has been realized in the
works of Haitian and non-Haitian scholars, composers and performers who have
dedicated themselves to the promotion of Haitian music at home and throughout the
diaspora. One of these musicians is Frantz Casséus, a student of Jaegerhuber who shared
his vision of promoting Haitian indigenous music and educating others about Haitian

music and culture.

 

8 Translated by author.

62

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Like J aegerhuber, Casseus focused on preserving Haitian traditional music and
writing music that would appeal to and be accepted by an international audience. A
composer, educator and guitarist, Casséus lived from 1915 to 1995. He began studying
with Jaegerhuber in the early 1930s (Ribot 2003, 5).9 Inspired by Jaegerhuber, Casseus
also wanted to promote the music of his country; he accomplished this by writing art
music based on Haitian ceremonial and folkloric music. Marc Ribot, a guitarist who
studied with Casseus and edited a collection of Casséus’s music for solo guitar, explains

Casséus’s desire to preserve Haitian music and culture:

F rantz Casseus understood the diversity of his country’s heritage and he had the
talent and the grand vision to weave its integral parts into a cohesive Haitian
musical identity. He experienced his musical epiphany at a cultural moment
when, following the occupation by the US. military (1915-1934) and the
widespread dissemination of the radio, many Haitians began to feel a need to
reaffirm a national identity. In writing and in interviews, Casseus expressed a
desire to protect and preserve Haitian music, presumably because he perceived its

loss through outside influences to be a genuine threat. (2003, 5)

Though he wanted to preserve the music of Haiti, Casseus was drawn to the music
introduced to Haitians by the American forces. These styles included jazz and European

classical music (Ribot 2003, 5).

 

9 It is interesting to note that Ribot refers to Jaegerhuber as “an Austrian musicologist and
composer living in Haiti” rather than a Haitian.

63

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Casseus found himself constrained by the same forces that affected J aegerhuber;
be positioned himself between a local and foreign audience and chose his music
inspiration accordingly. By the early 19403 Casseus had decided what path he wanted to
follow—that was to “transcen ” his compositions based on indigenous Haitian music to
an art level that could be appreciated by those outside of Haiti. In a letter written by
Casseus to the Ambassador of Bolivia in Washington, DC, Casseus stated “I believe it is
the artist’s function to render articulately and with beauty the soul of the land of his
origin and also the world that he experiences. . .my work is considered an expression of
the Haitian spirit. Yet, critics have stated (and this has been my hope) that it transcends
regionalism and enters the realm of transnational art” (quoted in Ribot 2003, 6). In
Haiti, Casséus’s performances of his classical guitar compositions that included rhythms

and melodies taken from Haitian folk songs were well-received.

Casséus’s mission to preserve this music and to raise it to a level that crossed
national borders led him to follow in Jaegerhuber’s steps and study the indigenous music
of Haiti. He did this by making contact with griots—-storytellers who pass on the oral
traditions of their homeland—and those who were immersed and knowledgeable about
the music of Haiti (Ribot 2003, 6).” In 1946 Casseus emigrated to the United States and

became an active teacher, guitar-maker, performer and recording artist in New York City.

 

l0A griot is a term used to describe hereditary praise singers in West Africa who pass on
the oral tradition of a village or family. In a conversation with Ribot, Casseus stated that
he made contact with “certain ‘Griots’ and certain people initiated in our culture” (Ribot
2003, 6). While the term griot is not associated with Haiti, Casseus used the term in
reference to Haitians that played a similar role to that of their West Afiican counterparts.
In a more problematic use of the term, the group “Les Griots” were a nationalist cultmal
organization headed by Francois Duvalier in the 19305; Car] Brouard, brother of Carmen
Brouard, was also a fan of “Les Griots” who used their putative connection with Afiican
culture to justify a “noiriste” political platform. (Largey, 2006, 191-193.)

64

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He continued to compose art music that incorporated the traditional music of Haiti, and
eventually released two albums on the Folkways label (now Smithsonian Folkways), the
first entitled Haitian Folk Songs (1953) and the second Haitian Dances (1954). Some of
Casseus Vodou-inspired music includes his Danse of the Hounsies (“Danse des Ounsi”)
(N .D.), “Assoto” from Hai’tianesques (1969), “Petro”, “Yanvalloux”, “Mascaron” and
“Cournbite” from Suite Haitienne (1956), Simbi, Danse Haitienne No. 6, (1975), and

Mési Ban Dyé (Merci Bon Dieu) (1993). “

In addition to being recognized for his promotion and preservation of Haitian
music, Casseus has been recognized by others for his creativity in combining art music

‘2 While his music can be seen as nationalistic in a

with Haitian indigenous music.
similar manner to the music of Villa-Lobos and Bartok, Casseus’s music transcends
attempts to label it as solely Haitian. The following excerpt from a 1992 interview for
Voices of America given by Haitian ethnomusicologist Claude Dauphin provides insight

on Casseus’s compositional style and musical contributions:

As an arranger and composer, [Casseus] arranged Haitian music and classical
pieces. F rantz Casseus composed a music that is so much like the folklore music
that we can take it as folklore music, but it is not. It is his compositions inspired
by folklore and all the traditions through his personal imagination. So, F rantz

Casseus re-created his long musical heritage from memory. He exploited this

 

1’ Mési Bon Dyé (Merci Bon Dieu) (1993) also known as “Coumbite” is the last
movement of Casséus’s Haitian Suite. It became Casseus’s “most commercially
successful composition,” and was recorded by popular singer Harry Belafonte and
vocalist Gille Dreux (in France), among others (Ribot 2003 7).

1’ Casseus was honored by the Societe de rechérche' et de la difiiuion de la musique
hai‘tienne at the University of Montreal in Quebec in 1985 for his promotion and
preservation of Haitian music (Ribot 2003, 8).

65

music to gain an edge, but he did not copy the folklore. He has renewed a style
inspired by folklore. His style translates the folklore but doesn’t copy it. As a
composer, he is extremely interesting because his composite knowledge is
original for Haiti as well as for the white Caribbean and the Americas. He has
composed a music inspired by Haiti and classical music. This mix made a bon
marriage [good wedding], especially his pieces for voice and guitar called
Haitienesques. He is like the [Brazilian composer] Villa-Lobos in that he is using
the same form, same construction, but has replaced the cello in [V illa-Lobos’]
pieces with the voice. Casseus, by using the voice, expresses the voice of the
Haitian people. He has gained a universal culture because his music is inspired
also by the Baroque music of the seventeenth century, especially Johann
Sebastian Bach. F rantz Casseus was an extremely cultivated man (quoted in

Ribot 2003, 8).

Dauphin’s interview with the Voice of America took place eight months before Casséus’s

death. Dauphin’s reference to Casséus’s music as being inspired by Bach illustrates an

example of the similarities between Jaegerhuber and Casseus; the influence of Bach can

be heard in some of Jaegerhuber’s art music as well.13

Just as J aegerhuber challenged listeners by incorporating Vodou-derived music

into his compositions, so too did Casseus challenge his audiences and critics by fusing

classical European music with Haiti’s traditional music (Ribot 2003, 9). Casséus’s

challenge to others was carried one step further by his mission to elevate Haitian music

 

1’I‘wo examples of this are Jaegerhuber’s Preludio for solo flute, written in a Baroque
style, and the third movement of his Trio for flute, viola and cello, written in a chorale
style reminiscent of Bach’s choral works.

66

and the “Haitian spirit” to “the realm of transnational art” at a time when this was not
seen as acceptable by some (Ribot 2003, 9). Ribot notes how “Casséus carried out his
project with great dedication, passion, aesthetic sensitivity, and lyric genius. He
pioneered the introduction of classical guitar in Haiti and is the acknowledged father of
the Haitian classical guitar” (Ribot 2003, 9). At a time when the term Vodou elicited
ambivalent feelings among many Haitians and was seen in a negative light among non—
Haitians, Casseus challenged those who listened to his music. In Ribot’s words “He
challenged US. and European audiences with his translation of an Africa-based folk
tradition whose rhythmic complexity approaches the limits of standard notation.
Although schooled in a nineteenth century classical tradition, the musical-cultmal ideas
embodied in his work make it particularly relevant today (Ribot 2003, 9). While all of
his music was written for guitar or voice and guitar, Casséus’s influence was far-
reaching, his passion for Haitian music enlightening, and his vision an inspiration for

those who knew him.'4

In addition to Casseus, another Haitian composer who was inspired and
influenced by Jaegerhuber is Julio Racine. In the twenty-first century Racine deals with
many of the same issues that Jaegerhuber dealt with in the twentieth-century. Like
Jaegerhuber, Racine identifies with the importance of Haiti’s traditional music; he
incorporates elements taken from the Vodou ceremony into his music, arranges Haitian

folk songs in an art music style and promotes Haitian music to an international audience.

 

1‘ Ribot edited The Complete Works of Frantz Casséus Volume 1: Music for Solo Guitar,
Tuscany Publications, in 2003. This collection includes several previously unpublished
pieces that Casseus introduced Ribot to when he (Casseus) was seriously ill,”
approximately three weeks before his death (Ribot 2003, 8).

67

Additionally, Racine “departs from the traditional approach” by utilizing chromaticism

and incorporating elements of jazz into his classical music compositions.ls

Julio Racine

Born in 1945, Julio Racine was an active educator and conductor in Haiti before
moving to the United States in 2001. Racine received a full scholarship to study
composition at the University of Louisville and has written a number of orchestral and
chamber works, including works for flute, brass quintet, and arrangements of Haitian folk
songs and ceremonial songs for voice and piano. After graduation, Racine returned to
Haiti and became the director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte T rinité and the
Holy Trinity Trade School in Port-au-Prince, and an instructor at the summer music camp
sponsored by Holy Trinity in Leogane, Haiti.16 Racine currently resides in Louisville,
Kentucky where he continues to compose music based on the traditional music of his

country.

As a young man in Haiti, Racine studied with one of Haiti’s most accomplished
flutists, Depestre Salnave, the person to whom J aegerhuber dedicated much of his flute
music. Salnave studied at the Montpellier Conservatory in France, and was one of
several musicians who returned to Haiti to teach at the conservatory created by Madam

Paul E. Magloire in the 1950s.‘7 According to Racine, “the world of classical music in

 

'5 Julio Racine, Personal correspondence with author. 1/28/05.
'6 Racine taught at Holy Trinity for twenty-five years before moving to the United States.
‘7 Madam Magliore was the wife of General Paul Magloire, the president of Haiti during

the early 19503.

68

Port-au-Prince was not very large. . .Jaegerhuber and Salnave had the opportunity [to

meet] on many occasions and learned to appreciate each other’s talents.”18

Jaegerhuber had a strong influence on Racine, and he shares Jaegerhuber’s goal of
educating the public about the music and culture of Haiti. Although Racine never had the
opporttmity to meet J aegerhuber, he stated that J aegerhuber “had a profound influence”
on him, and that be “embraced [Jaegerhuber’s] philosophy for having a music that is
fundamentally Haitian.”19 While I have written extensively elsewhere about the
traditional elements Racine uses in his chamber music for flute, here I focus on Racine’s

educational goals and his experiences in Haiti and the United States.20

Whereas Jaegerhuber focused on melody, Racine stresses the importance of
rhythm in Haitian music.21 Racine focuses on the rhythm from several angles—in his
words, “what was the rhythm like in the past, what form does it take today, and what
could it evolve into in the future.22 By utilizing traditional elements in his compositions,
Racine ensures that Haitians are able to relate to his music. At the same time, through his

classical compositions he is providing those who are unfamiliar with Haitian music a

 

‘8 Personal correspondence with author, February 22, 2004. When Salnave left Haiti to
return to France, there was no other flute teacher on the island of that caliber with whom
Racine could study. However, Salnave lefi Racine with a strong foundation. Racine
continued practicing on his own, listening to recordings of noted French flutist Jean
Pierre Rampal, who became his role model.

19 Personal correspondence with author, January 28, 2005. In the same correspondence
Racine writes “[Jaegerhuber] is the one Haitian composer I would have liked so much to
meet personally. . .he was the first to point out the necessity for a locally inspired music”
(personal correspondence with author, 1/28/05).

2 See Procopio, 2005, 100-124.

2' Racine mentioned that “Jaegerhuber was a master in the melodic aspect of [Haitian]
music” and that in “picking up the torch after him [Racine] concentrate[s] mainly on
rhythmic developments” (personal con'espondence with author, 1/28/05).

22 Julio Racine, personal correspondence with author, October 2003.

69

glimpse into Haitian culture.23 Racine shared with me the statement that opens up this

chapter, written by him some time ago:

All through my career, I have met numerous artists. Some came to Haiti and
soloed with the orchestra, some came and gave recitals. . .I have also met an
infinite number of people from different comers of the world. The one thing I
realize is that Haitian arts, except for painting, are not known at all. It is always
such a big surprise when those visitors discover that indeed there is such a thing
as Haitian classical music and people who wrote the music are Haitians.
Consequently, I have decided to expose that music as much as possible. In fact,
being an echo of the Haitian soul itself, music gives a good insight of the Haitian
culture. As a conductor, I managed to include at least one Haitian composition in
almost every concert I have conducted. As a composer, I write in a style that
presents the fundamental of Haitian music. For many years I worked with young
musicians. I always tried not to define Haitian music for them, but rather expose

them to that music and let them discover its originality and richness.24

Like a tapestry consisting of various textures, Racine’s music often contains many layers
of music referencing Vodou, some obvious and some subtle. Each hearing uncovers

another melody or rhythm derived from Haitian indigenous music.25

—_

23 Largey notes that “While Racine’s music is not based on ethnographic research, he
brings a deeply felt awareness to the performance practice of Haitian art music” (Largey
2006, 238).
:2 Julio Racine, personal correspondence with author, 2004.

. Racine’s intent is for people to discover and experience new things each time they
llSten to one of his compositions. (interview with author, April 2, 2005).

70

Retaining Haitian culture and traditional music, promoting the music of Haiti, and
educating others about Haitian music and culture are all important to Racine. A study of
Racine’s works illustrates the similarities in ideology and methodology between Racine
and Jaegerhuber. Like Jaegerhuber, many of Racine’s Vodou-derived works contain
titles connected to Vodou, including his Sonate Vodou Jazz and Tangente au Yanvalou
for flute and piano, and his collection of folk and ceremonial songs for voice and piano—
“Mési Bon Dié”, “ Erzulie Malade”, “Erzulie Oh! Erzulie Sal”, “Trois Feuilles, Trois
racines, Oh!”, and “Belle Haiti”. Several of these are the same songs that Jaegerhuber set

in his Complainte Hai’tiennes.

The Sonate Vodou Jazz is an excellent example of the many layers one can find in
Racine’s compositions, both musically and intellectually. In this sonata, Racine
incorporates numerous cultural elements, including melodies and rhythms taken fiom
various types of ceremonial music and folkloric dance.26 In addition, he metaphorically
brings together the United States and Haiti—countries often divided—on two different
levels. The first, that he uses both Haitian traditional music and jazz in this piece, is more
obvious. The second, a story-line which the music is based upon, is much more subtle;
unless the composer or performer divulges the story, the listener is unaware of the
connection. However, knowing the story and listening to the piece bring a whole new

meaning and awareness to the music.

When Racine composed Sonate Vodou Jazz, he based it upon a story about two

sons who were born of the same mother but raised in two different places geographically.

 

26 In Racine’s words, “Dance is part of the music—of the performance—as far as Vodou-
derived music is concerned” (interview with author, April 2, 2005).

71

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The first was raised in Haiti—represented by Vodou-derived music—and the other in the
United States, in the Haitian diaspora—represented by jazz. In the first movement of the
piece, the two sons finally meet and discover each other; in Racine’s words, “imagine
two people dancing. One is saying ‘This is the way you should be dancing’, the other is

saying ‘this is the way you should be dancing,’ and finally they start dancing together?”

The second movement, entitled Pryé (Prayer), reflects the two brothers praying,
grateful because they were both able to meet. Having come out of slavery and from the
same mother, Racine likened the feel of this movement to the prayers of people praying
when they reached Saut d ’Eau.28 The music is supposed to reflect “the energy of the

pe0ple when they are praying; when they are praying. . .nothing else exists.”29

In the third movement, a celebration takes place, with each brother showing the
other how to dance his way, until once again, both finally dance together. Interestingly,
in this section Racine writes a melody taken from Danmballah in the flute part, while the
piano accompanies the flute in an impressionistic style in the manner of Debussy.30
Racine told me that this section reflects a certain nostalgia, a looking back at the

European influence in the music and realizing that “it’s not so bad after all.’”'

 

27 Interview with author, April 2, 2005 .
28 Saut d’Eau (Soda) is a waterfall located in Haiti’s Central Plateau; it is the destination
of a holy pilgrimage for both Catholics and Vodouists that takes place each year on 16
July. It is said that an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared at the top of a palm tree
there, similar to the sightings in Mt. Carmel and other places around the world.
Thousands of people from Haiti and the Haitian diaspora return to Haiti each year to take
part in the pilgrimage.

9 Interview with author, April 2, 2005.
30 Danmballah’s counterpart in Catholicism is St. Patrick.
3 1 Interview with author, April 2, 2005. Racine stated that there was also another way to
look at this piece, that is, theoretically, “in relation to established concepts” (Interview

72

Racine also composed a symphony entitled Regards (“Looking Back”) for the
Orchestra Sainte Trinité to perform in honor of Haiti’s independence in January 2004.
Like the Sonate Vodou Jazz, this piece also contains many layers; it looks back over the
Haiti’s history, reflecting much of Haiti’s past through music and incorporating many
aspects of Haitian culture in its four movements. Unfortunately, as Racine “had to leave
Haiti in 2001 for health reasons and due to the political atmosphere [at that time], he was
unable to return and see [his] project into reality.“2 However, in February 2006 Racine’s
symphony was premiered by the Virginia Commonwealth University Orchestra, under

the direction of Haitian conductor Jean Montes, with Racine in attendance.

Like J aegerhuber, in addition to educating others about Haitian music, Racine
worked to challenge the ambivalent feelings that Haitians in Haiti and the diaspora
towards Vodou. However, through his composing and arranging, Racine focuses more
on raising the academic level of the music rather than talking openly about the religious

aspects of the music.33 As a conductor in Haiti, Racine had his students play everything

 

with author, April 2, 2005). His interaction between key relationships, thematic material
and development is different than the standard sonata form. Racine’s intention was to
keep people’s interest as they listened to the piece. By keeping the sonata form
“ambiguous”, by using tension as a result of dissonant chords that do not resolve until the
last chord of the piece, and by “key drifting” (moving in and out of different keys) and
rhythmic development, Racine hoped to maintain the interest of the listener throughout
the sonata.

32 Virginia Commonwealth University Symphony Orchestra program notes, February 23,
2006.

33 Racine told me that he left discussion of the religious aspects of the music to the
experts [scholars] (personnel correspondence with author, October 23, 2008). In the
United States, organizations like the Haitian Studies Association and KOSANBA (the
Congress of Santa Barbara), the scholarly association for the study of Haitian Vodou,
continue to educate others about Haitian culture, religion and life. A project by a group
of scholars associated with KOSANBA is the publication of several books on Haitian
Vodou, including Invisible Powers: Vodou and Development (2006), which is described
as “an important field-defining volume. . .this is the first time that a group of highly

73

that was available in regards to Vodou and folk-inspired music. In a recent
correspondence, Racine noted that there was not much of an issue with parents regarding
this music because they were never involved in the decision-making process of selecting

music for the orchestra to perform.34

Racine also notes how more and more people are educating others about the value
of Haitian culture, through the internet and other venues. He explained how there are
schools and universities in Europe, Canada and the United States that now include
Haitian culture in their curriculum (Boston, Montreal and New York, for example), and
how scholars like Michael Largey and Amos Coulanges, among others, are doing very

good work towards educating others about Haitian culture.

Racine and I also discussed his views on whether or not ambivalence continued to

be an issue in Haitian society today. In Racine’s opinion:

[Ambivalence] is mainly in the teaching and attitude of some Protestant churches
in Haiti and places like Haitian communities in New York, Montreal, Atlanta,
Georgia. . .it is a form of exploitation by some Haitian preachers. . .from time to
time you will come across a Haitian professional with that attitude (that anything
Haitian is not good). It has to do with total ignorance of the culture and its origin.

Trying to convince this group [that Haitian culture is valuable] is a waste of time.

 

respected Haitians have joined together to research and present their views collectively
on the Vodou religion which impacts almost all social, political and economic Haitian
institutions. This research is by far the most extensive conducted in the area of Haitian
Vodou by contemporary researchers and the book promises to become ‘the authority’ in
the field” (KOSANBA website, www.0mni.ucsb.edu/cbs/reports/2003/publicationshtml.
34 Personal correspondence with author, October 24, 2008.

74

 

 

 

 

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But resonant principle will make any real Haitian vibrate at the sound of real

Haitian folk music.35

Racine’s thoughts on this topic are in keeping with data discussed in chapter one of this
study, and with data that will be presented in chapter three. That is, that some Haitians in
Haiti and abroad try to distance themselves from their Haitian culture—their Afiican
heritage—either out of ignorance about the culture or to separate themselves from the

negative perception others have of Vodou.

Performing music representative of another culture goes beyond accurately
portraying the composer’s intentions; it carries the additional responsibility of providing
an authentic representation of the culture itself. In a conversation with Racine, he told
me that when presenting and performing Haitian music to an audience, I need to be
careful when selecting a term to describe the music itself; the audience in question should
determine whether I describe the music and folk-derived or Vodou-derived.36 The term
Vodou-derived might result in those who view Vodou negatively to resist the music——
even before hearing it, while folk-derived may be more acceptable because it is devoid of

a religious context.37

 

35 Personal correspondence with author, October 23, 2008. In a more recent
correspondence, Racine reminded me that “the negative attitude toward Haitian music
and culture is limited (to my knowledge) to two categories: Some Haitian Protestant
Churches abroad and some Haitian professionals living abroad. But like I said, those are
not the kind [of people] you can educate. In the end, I would say the problem with
Haitian music and culture has to do with ways of spreading the word. In other words, the
mutual departments of our embassies and consulates are not doing enough” (personal
correspondence with author, December 10,2008).

6Personal correspondence with author, October 24,2008.

By approaching Vodou-derived music as folk music, one may pique the interest of
liSteners familiar with and receptive to the folk music of other countries. Once the

37

75

In an interview, Racine discussed the care that J aegerhuber took in incorporating
traditional music in his compositions in order to avoid resistance to his music by elite
Haitians. During the first half of the twentieth century, “Vodou-derived music was not

something the elite were ready to accept.”38 Racine continued, stating:

[J aegerhuber] was choirmaster of a women’s church [choir] in Port-au-Prince
teaching people of the elite. He realized the importance of [traditional music], but
he could not talk about that. You cannot imagine somebody like Jaegerhuber
sitting in somebody’s living room and talking about yanvalou, or congo, or banda;
they would think he was crazy. . .Jaegerhuber was very artist-like. He was really
determined to do something about [traditional music] without creating any kind of
problems with anyone, so he did it in a really subtle way. He was able to get
people to sing folk music without realizing that was what they were singing.

When you listen to his masses, there are a lot of folk-like melodies in there.39

Racine noted that most people did not look at ceremonial music for inspiration until
Jaegerhuber came along, because at the time music was reserved for the elite, and neither

the church nor the elite encouraged the promotion of Haitian indigenous music.40

In our discussion Racine mentioned another work by J aegerhuber entitled Legba,
which was composed for chamber orchestra. In Racine’s words, “You find that this piece

is pretty much a struggle between Vodou and the church. [J aegerhuber] put something in

 

audience is accepting of the music in question, the discussion can gradually lead to the
origin of the music under discussion.

38 Interview with author, April 2, 2005.
39 Interview with author, April 2, 2005.
4° Interview with author, April 1, 2005.

76

there which is very church-like, and then all of a sudden you hear that Legba melody,
very subtle, coming up, and then the church, then Legba, then the church, putting them
one against the other.”41 Racine’s interpretation of the struggle in this piece between the
church and Vodou reflects the tension between both during Jaegerhuber’s time, a tension

which continues to exist between the Protestant Church and Vodou today.

Both Racine’s and Casséus’s focus on connecting Haitian culture with Haitian art
music and raising it to a standard that can be appreciated on an academic level by
audiences inside and outside of Haiti is similar to the way Jaegerhuber reached out to an
international audience with his music. While the focus of this chapter is on Casseus and
Racine, there are other prominent composers influenced by J aegerhuber who carry on the

tradition of promoting and preserving Haitian music.
Other Prominent Haitian Composers Influenced by Jaegerhuber

Like J aegerhuber, Claude Dauphin and Amos Coulanges were interested in the
music of Vodou, but Dauphin and Coulanges studied Vodou extensively; they both
received degrees in music based upon academic research done on the music of Vodou.
Dauphin was born in 1949 and attended school in Hungary. A Haitian musicologist and
composer, Dauphin is professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal. A founding
member of the Société de Recherche et de Dzfiitsion de la Musique Haitienne, Dauphin
and other members of the society promote Haitian art music on a regular basis through

performances.42 His research interests include the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau whose

¥

1: Interview with author, April 2, 2005.
The Society keeps a collection of Haitian music, Catalogue des Partitions, which is the
source of much of the music discussed in this study.

77

dictionary of music he helped edit. Influenced by Jaegerhuber, Dauphin has also

composed art music inspired by Haitian traditional music.

Dauphin recognizes the importance of Vodou in Jaegerhuber’s compositions; in
an interview in Sél magazine, he used the Creole expression “Misik lit e blayi sou roch
galet Vodou a [His music was spread out on the riverstones of Vodou]” (Dauphin 1979,
3). In his translation of Dauphin’s interview, Largey refers to the image Dauphin
conjures with this reference; in Haiti women do their laundry along the riverbanks and
spread their clothes out on the stones so that they may dry in the heat of the sun. Dauphin
used this analogy to emphasize that Vodou was an essential element in Jaegerhuber’s
music and that like the ubiquitous sight of women doing their laundry by the side of the

river, Jaegerhuber’s music was connected to rural, Vodou-practicing Haitians.

In addition to composing art music based on the Vodou ceremony, Dauphin has
also done ethnographic research and has written extensively on the ceremonial music of
Haitian Vodou. However, Dauphin’s research was lengthier and more detailed than that
done by J aegerhuber. His monograph entitled Musique du vaudou: fonctions, structures,
et styles (1984), contains a theoretical analysis and interpretation of ceremonial songs. It
also includes the transcriptions, texts and translations of fifty Haitian songs taken from

the folkloric and ceremonial repertoire.43

Like Jaegerhuber, Casseus and Racine, Dauphin also works to educate the public

about Haitian music. In a recent correspondence, Dauphin noted that:

__

43 The contribution of Haitian scholar Michel Laguerre should be noted here as well; his
monograph Voodoo Heritage (1980) is devoted to the classification and interpretation of
Vodou songs (F leurant 1996, 72).

78

...the more the music is “pure” (contains any or very few referential arguments)
the less it is well accepted by the Haitian listener who is not a “connoisseur” in
music repertoire. The great part of my effort was to educate a larger tolerance of
the public to help it accept the right for the Haitian artist to work outside of the
collective features and to produce an art totally valuable among the Haitian
patrimony."4

In Dauphin’s experience, he has never found the Vodou or folkloric elements to interfere

negatively in performance of Haitian music.45

Amos Coulanges is a Haitian ethnomusicologist, composer, and educator who
was also influenced by Jaegerhuber. Born in Haiti in 1954, Coulanges studied music in
Canada, Italy, and later in France, where he received a degree in ethnomusicology that
focused on his study of Vodou in Haiti. Like Casseus, Coulanges performs on and
composes for guitar, but his musical contributions extend to vocal repertoire as well.
Some of his music reflects its Vodou origins by their titles—Ram (1990), Yanvalou No. I
(1991), and Kongo (1994) for four part choir, and Les Haitiannesques (1975-1981) and
Two Fey Twa Rasyn-o (1995) for guitar, among others. Coulanges currently directs
several choirs in and around Paris where he continues to compose music based on Haitian
music. An accomplished guitarist in his own right, Coulanges also performs extensively,

and has several recordings to his credit.

One of Haiti’s most prominent woman composers, Carmen Brouard, lived from

1909-2005 and was also influenced by Jaegerhuber. As one of only a few women Haitian

_‘

:Claude Dauphin, personal correspondence with author, December 9,2008.
45Claude Dauphin, personal correspondence with author, December 9,2008.

79

composers in the twentieth century, Brouard stands out for her numerous works written
for chamber instruments, as well as for voice and for orchestra. Arguably Haiti’s most
distinguished and most prolific female composer, Brouard has more than thirty musical
compositions to her credit. Like Jaegerhuber, Brouard’s works span all genres,
including: chamber music, solo works for piano, voice and piano, and orchestral

pieces.46

As a student, Brouard studied piano first in Haiti and later at the Paris
Conservatory. An educator as well as a professional pianist, Brouard moved to Quebec,
Canada in 1977. She became a member of the ACWC (Association of Canadian Women

Composers) and taught piano, solfége and composition.

Much of Brouard’s music is inspired by Haitian idioms; not only did she utilize
the rhythms associated with traditional Haitian music in her compositions—including
Vodou and rara—she also utilized the popular dance music, meringue.“ In addition,
many of the flora depicted in her brother’s poems and her works for voice are indigenous
to Haiti and cannot be found elsewhere in the world. Many of Brouard’s musical
compositions for piano reflect the traditional music of her homeland and serve as
educational contributions to the literatm'e. Her compositions consist of Vodou-inspired
works, including: Baron La Croix for piano and orchestra (N .D.), Sonate Vaudouesque

for violin and piano (1965), and “Toccata Vaudouesque” the last of five pieces for piano

 

‘6 Carmen Brouard was the sister of Haitian poet, Carl Brouard.

’7 In an article written by Dauphin after Brouard’s death, be credited Brouard with
developing a sound that reflected her own personal sensitivity and combined it with a
Haitian national expression, and noted how she had the ability to transform the piano into
a [Haitian] drum (Dauphin, 2005). Translated by author.

80

from L ’lle magique...Haiti (1933, 1992).48 Like Jaegerhuber, Brouard has also written
numerous works in the Western tradition as well, without reference to indigenous Haitian

music.

There are many other Haitian musicians and educators inspired by J aegerhuber
who are not mentioned in this study. 49 J aegerhuber’s legacy and influence continues into
the twenty-first century, through composers inspired by his example to create art music
based on Vodou, folklorists who take performances of Haitian culture beyond Haiti’s
borders and throughout the world, ethnomusicologists who conduct research and classify
and categorize ceremonial music, and Haitian and non-Haitian musicians who continue to
perform and promote the music of Haiti. All of these activities are accomplishments that
demonstrate the success of Jaegerhuber and others in challenging ambivalence towards

Vodou.

 

‘8 Dauphin also pointed out how Brouard’s Sonate Vaoudouesque fuses the grand
classical forms and romantic sensibility of the composer with references to the imaginary
Haitian collective—the Haitian people (Dauphin, 2005). Translated by author.

‘9 Emile Desamours (b. 1941) is another well-known Haitian composer who draws fi'om
Haitian indigenous music in his art music compositions. One of Desarnours’s best-
known compositions is his Noel A yisyen (A Haitian Noel). Another composition by
Desamours, Sonata F olklorique (1941), was premiered in Montreal on May 30, 1998. In
addition to directing a folkloric troupe, Lina Fussman-Mathon Blanchet also composed
pieces based on Haitian folldoric music. Ferere Laguerre composed Danmballah if and
Feuille 0, two folkloric songs for four mixed voices. Robert Durand gathered Haitian
fables and songs and incorporated some of these popular songs (or what he termed as
“regular songs” as opposed to the Vodou songs that J aegerhuber collected) into his
classical quartet for strings. Some of Edouard Woolley’s best-known works include his
Sous les palmiers: Suite pour violin et piano, whose movements include: Danse,
Reverie, La Creole, and Mazoubelle. More recently, Dickens Princivil composed his “Pa
Ba’m Chay Pote” for flute and orchestra, a piece reminiscent of the folk music of the
countryside. It was written in 2005 in memory of Haitian cellist Pierre Belizaire, one of
the first students in the music program at Ecole Sainte Trinité, a founding member of the
Orchestra Philharmonique Sainte Trinité, and the former director of the camp sponsored
by the Ecole de Musique Dessaix Baptiste in J acmel, Haiti.

81

Educating Others and Raising Awareness Through Vodou-Inspired Music

How Vodou-influenced music is received reflects the success of how this music is
employed to raise awareness and educate others about Haitian culture, religion and
history. Using Haitian art music as a lens by which to gauge feelings towards Vodou
provides us with a better understanding of how the context—in which Vodou-derived
music is presented—and the cultural knowledge of listeners affects ambivalence towards

and acceptance of this music.50

The presentation of Vodou-inspired music and use of indigenous elements in the
music affects the perception and reception of those exposed to it. How Vodou-derived
music is received by audiences is dependent—in part—upon their exposure to Haitian
music and their knowledge of Haitian culture. It can also differ depending upon whether
the audience is Haitian or non-Haitian. Music does not have to contain reference to
ceremonial or folkloric music to be authentically Haitian. However, classical
compositions with clear references to Haitian indigenous music seem to gain the most

reactions by audience members.

 

so It also raises awareness of other issues involved in authentically representing music of
another culture, including: the notation of non-westem music when rhythms may not
necessarily conform to western notation, the responsibilities of the musicians in
accurately portraying the composers’ intentions, and the challenges performers face in
attempting to do so. To perform art music inspired by indigenous music in the manner in
which it was intended, one must be familiar with the melodies and rhythms of the
indigenous music on which it is based, and culturally aware enough to identify the
pulse—the feel—of the music itself.

82

The composition and performance of Haitian classical music has succeeded in
diminishing some of the “cultural ignorance” and misinformation about Haiti.5 ' The
preceding descriptions reflect what seem to be a growing pattern of acceptance towards
Haitian indigenous music and culture by upper-class Haitians and the international
community. While the examples in this thesis are limited in scope, the growing number
of institutions that focus on the value of Haitian traditional music and culture in Haiti and
the United States, the number of Haitian composers in Haiti and throughout the diaspora
who continue to write music based on the traditional music of Haiti, and the increasing
number of Haitian musicians, conductors, and educators in Haiti and abroad who promote
this music, provide us with additional evidence that Haitian music and culture is
becoming more and more accepted throughout the world today. In Vodou Nation, Largey

concludes:

Every performance of mizik savant ayisyen underscores the relationship between
the shared heritage that Haitian musicians draw flour in their art music and the
proper performance practice of Vodou-derived music. While each musician’s

relationship to traditional religious practice may be unique, Vodou continues to

 

5' Cellist Tom Clowes terms cultural ignorance as the lack of knowledge and lack of
interest some people have in cultures other than their own (personal correspondence with
author, January 6, 2009). He asserts “ .. .because the music we hear influences our
attitudes towards the cultures from which it comes, it is imperative that musicians use
their art to spark much-needed interest in otherwise ignored parts of the

world. . .Musicians, however, have a unique opportunity to [do this]. With its ability to
generate excitement while bypassing the barriers of language and distance, a piece of
music opens the composer’s world to listeners. A Mozart quartet evokes aristocratic
court life in a way no textbook can. One need not speak Russian to understand
Shostakovich’s reaction to Soviet horrors. Why shouldn’t J aegerhuber’s trio open up to
us the magical world of voodoo song and ritual?” (Personal correspondence with author,
January 6, 2009). Clowes performs with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and is a
founding member of the Haitian classical ensemble with which I perform.

83

serve as a guide for Haitian musicians from a variety of traditions, from art
composers to roots musicians. Through their use of musical materials from the
Vodou ceremony, Haitian art composers and roots musicians renegotiate their
relationships with Haitian traditional religion and present alternative
representations of their oft-maligned culture to an international audience. (Largey

2006, 238-239)

As more and more art music composers and roots musicians utilize the music of Vodou
in their works, they will continue to break down and break through barriers set against
Vodou. While it is a slow process, these composers continue to have faith and hope that
these alternative representations will lead to the acceptance of Haitian culture by those

inside and outside of Haiti.

In the next chapter I discuss Haitian the work of Haitian ethnomusicologist
Gerdes F leurant, to educate Haitians and non-Haitians about Vodou and put to rest the
stereotypes associated with it. Like Jaegerhuber, Fleurant also transcribed music from
the Vodou ceremony. Although his approach and end result differed from that of
Jaegerhuber, Fleurant—like J aegerhuber—made a significant contribution to the
ethnographic and musical research on Haiti. Fleurant challenges ambivalence in Haitian
society on a daily basis through his research, his fight against class conflict, and his
hands-on approach to the problems that Haitians face, both at home and in the diaspora.
By taking a grass-roots approach to teaching others about Haitian indigenous culture-—
including music, art, dance and religion—Fleurant’s influence is far-reaching, extending

from Haiti into the Haitian diaspora and back to his home in Haiti’s Central Plateau.

 

 

 

hilt

 

Chapter 3. Leading By Example: Fighting Ambivalence in Haiti Through A Humanistic
Hands-On Approach

Those unfamiliar with Haiti often question what part of the Haitian population is linked to Vodou practice.
Yet the more pertinent question may be, who is not? A religion that sustained slaves, peasants, and the
dispossessed, Vodou remains inextricably ingrained in national culture. And though the country’s elite has
sought to distance itself from association with Vodou—rarely a status-symbol for those eager to climb the
social ladder—many members of the middle and upper classes, in time of need, patronize Vodou rituals
and avail themselves of the advice and services of the oungan and manbo.

-—Gerdes Fleurant, ethnomusicologist and ougan, (quoted in Galembo 1998, 100)

A Haitian ethnomusicologist in Haiti is making progress towards changing
attitudes in his rural village one step at a time. Gerck F leurant, ethnomusicologist,
sociologist, educator, and initiated ougan, is doing what he can to build his community,
educate Haitian teachers and families about the importance of education, health, and
hygiene, and develop a haven where indigenous Haitian culture—including art, music,
and dance—can flourish.l At the same time, F leurant is working to educate non-Haitians

about the value of Haitian Vodou as the heart of Haitian culture.

This chapter presents and analyzes F leurant’s ideas for addressing Haiti’s many
difficult issues. It begins with the ethnographic research and musical contributions of
Fleurant, who has undertaken extensive research on the ceremonial music of the Rada
rite.2 F leurant provides yet another perspective to the ethnographic research done on the

ceremonial music of Vodou, in addition to that done by Harold Courlander and Wemer

 

‘ This includes educating teachers and parents on proper ways of disciplining students
and children. In Haiti, corporal punishment has been accepted as a way of discipline for
many years. F leurant works to by to instill a sense of compassion, patience and
pndemtanding in those within his community.

F leurant describes the Rada rite as one of the principle styles of worship in Haitian
V040“, the other being Petwo (Kongo/Petwo) (F leurant unpublished work, 13).

85

Almge

mfluenc

 

17]
\h
u.

A. J aegerhuber.3 While F leurant credits Courlander and not Jaegerhuber as having
influenced his ethnographic research, an examination of the relationship between the
research done by F leurant and J aegerhuber illustrates their similarities in methodologies
and demonstrates the relationship that Haitians have with Vodou4 Through their
ethnographic research, both J aegerhuber and Fleurant provide non-Haitians with a means
to learn about Haitian music—Fleurant through his western system of analysis and

Jaegerhuber through his transformation of ceremonial songs into art songs.

This chapter also looks at Fleurant’s mission to break down class barriers in Haiti,
and how these class conflicts have negatively impacted the Haitian educational system.
His article “Caste, Class Conflict and Status Quo in Haiti” (1973) was written at a time
when there were no scholarly studies of class conflict in Haiti. In his article, Fleurant
argues that throughout history “color prejudice” has been the catalyst for class conflict in
Haiti, and that the Haitian educational system serves to “maintain boundaries” between
the various classes, thereby causing and maintaining the “chronic underdevelopment of

Haiti” (F leurant 1973, 178). While F leurant’s article was written thirty-five years ago,

 

3 Novelist and etlrnographer Harold Courlander shared Price-Mars’s view that the origins
of Haitian music were from Africa and found in the music of the peasants; from 1932-
1938 he made five trips to Haiti and collected hundreds of Haitian folk and ceremonial
songs. Courlander’s book, Haiti Singing (1939), was “the first book-length monograph
devoted entirely to music of the Haitian countryside” (Largey 2004, 6). In his book
Courlander includes musical examples of drum patterns and melodies taken from his
research. Chapter seven includes transcriptions of drum parts for two Haitian dances,
while chapter eight consists of one hundred and twenty-six melodies accompanied by text
taken from ceremonial songs (see Courlander 1939, 177-226).

4 In Folk Songs and Drum Rhythms of Haiti, Fleurant notes Courlander’s contribution to
the studies that have been done on the music of the Vodou ceremony but does not
mention J aegerhuber’s contribution. When I asked why this was 30, F leurant said that at
the time he conducted his research, he did not know of Jaegerhuber’s research because it
was not published.

86

 

 

the same argument can be applied to Haiti today.s F leurant’s at times volatile assertions
and discussion of social classes in Haiti provides one viewpoint on how ambivalence is
reflected in different ways, depending on one’s class status. He sees this ambivalence as

being a result of ignorance and a lack of education.

The latter half of this chapter looks at what F leurant and his wife, Florienne
Saintil, also an educator, have accomplished in Haiti to date, including: the construction
of the Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center (C-CLACK) and elementary
and secondary school in his hometown of Mirebalais in the Central Plateau, the
establishment of a summer day camp for students, the Teachers’ Education Institute, the
US/Haiti Cultural Exchange Program, and the founding of the Gawou Ginou Foundation,
Inc. The Gawou Ginou Foundation is a non profit 501 © (3) corporation whose aim is to
engage community members in activities leading to the preservation, promotion and
support of Haitian culture through events designed to (1) promote Haitian culture in the
United States and (2) promote Haitian-American cultural exchange and understanding.
While Fleurant is not the answer to Haiti’s problems and some of his assertions are not
without question, that he was able to accomplish so much in such a relatively short period
of time, in a country with little infrastructure and facing numerous challenges, is indeed

noteworthy.

 

5 In a recent interview, Fleurant used the events of 2004 that happened with then
President Aristide as an example demonstrating that while things are not worse than they
were thirty-five years ago, they are still the same (interview with author, November 7,
2008). A dark-skinned Haitian supported by the masses of Haitian peasants, Aristide was
not accepted by the elite class of Haiti, which included those of (predominantly) lighter
skin color as well as those with greater wealth.

87

 

in socia

the Unit

Gent Fleurant was born July 7, 1939 in Port-au-Prince. He completed a degree
in social science in Haiti and was church organist at St. Trinity Church before coming to
the United States in 1964 to pursue further studies. He received an M.M. degree in pipe
organ from the New England Conservatory, an MA. degree in sociology and
anthropology fi'om Northeastern University, a M.M. in music composition from Tufts
University, and a Ph.D. in Caribbean culture and music (an ethnomusicology degree that
focused on Haiti and Afiican folklore) fiom Tufts University. Fleurant’s teaching
experience includes establishing an Afiican American Studies program at Salem State
College, where he began teaching in 1971, as well as teaching appointments at Brown
and Brandies Universities and Assumption College. In 1985 he became a visiting
professor at Wellesley College in their Afiican American music program. In 1992 he
was appointed full-time instructor at Wellesley, where he remained until his retirement in

2005 .

F leurant’s contributions to education and Haitian society encompass his work in
all of the fields he has studied—sociology, anthropology, and ethnomusicology.
Beginning with his studies on the music and culture of his own country, Fleurant
provides insight into Haitian life through his personal views of Haitian society, and the

problems and issues that Haitians deal with on a daily basis.

Gerdés Fleurant and the Rada Rite

As an initiated Vodou priest as well as a Haitian ethnomusicologist, F leurant is
perhaps one of the most qualified ethnographers to have conducted research on Vodou

ceremonial music. His status as an ougan and his knowledge as an ethnomusicologist

88

pm‘ide

CODICXI

a later i:

 

 

 

provided him with a unique perspective on the music and its meaning in a ceremonial
context. Rather than categorize ceremonial music to utilize in art music compositions at
a later time, Fleurant’s goal was to categorize the music so to provide a theoretical
analysis of the music and an interpretation of the text.6 In his monograph, Dancing
Spirits: Rhythms and Rituals of Haitian Vodun, the Rada Rite (1996), Flem'ant notes the

following in regards to his methodology:

...When I returned to Haiti in January 1983, my research took on a different
focus. I became convinced of the necessity to approach the study of the Rada
rite’s music fiom a holistic perspective that requires not only a study of the music
in its ritual context but also this researcher’s involvement in the ritual process as
well. Thus, my methodological approach became twofold: (l) to continue my
drumming lessons with Coyote and his assistants Edner, and TiBe and (2) to
become initiated and learn the ABCs of Vodun from an insider’s vantage point.
Coyote introduced me to the late oungan Pressoir Louis, who became my spiritual

father (the oungan who initiates a person) and teacher. (F leurant 1996, 3)7

Fleurant’s position as an ougan and participant-observer provides ethnography with a

unique perspective that few others share.8

 

6 It is interesting to note that there seems to be no overlap between the songs researched
by Courlander, Jaegerhuber and Fleurant; none of the original transcriptions done by
Jaegerhuber can be found in either Courlander’s or Fleurant’s transcriptions, nor do
Courlander’s transcriptions appear in F leurant’s collection of transcriptions.

7 Coyote was one of the “leading master drummers of Haiti” (F leurant 1996, 3).

8 A limited number of scholars have undertaken research in Haiti as participant-
observers. American anthropologist Maya Deren was a manbo (see her documentary
video Divine Horsemen, 1953/1983). Sociologist and anthropologist Karen McCarthy-

89

 

mono g1

F leurant has written extensively on the ceremonial music of Haiti. His
monograph is the first major study devoted entirely to the music of the Rada rite and is
based on his Ph.D. dissertation, “The Ethnomusicology of Yanvalou: A Study of the
Rada Rite in Haiti” (1987). He also has a yet unpublished collection entitled “Folk Songs
and Drum Rhythms of Haiti” which contains many of the same songs found in his
published works. F leurant contends that the drumming, singing and dance found in the
Vodou ceremony are equal in importance in order to communicate with the Iwa yo. In
his words “Dancing Spirits emphasizes the fact that Vodun is a danced religion, and such
a medium is central in the ritual context” (F leurant 1996, 5). Even when taking the
ceremonial songs out of context, F leurant works to retain their meaning; he educates the
reader by providing translations of the texts, context in which the songs appear (which
Iwa the songs represent, what each particular Iwa represents, where the songs appear in

the ceremony), and the implication behind the words being sung.9

Like Jaegerhuber, Courlander and Dauphin, Fleurant collected and catalogued
ceremonial songs. Fleurant’s monograph includes musical transcriptions and text for
seventy—eight songs, along with an analysis of the song texts, a discussion of the song

texts in a ritual context, and detailed drumming examples of the various rhythms

 

Brown also became initiated during her fieldwork on Vodou in New York City (See
Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, 1991). Liza McAlister, a religious studies
professor who has done extensive research on Haitian ram, and Lois Wilcken also went
through the initial stages of initiation in Haiti. (It should be noted that there are several
stages of mitiation that one must complete before become a manbo or ougan. )

9In Creole words and phrases ofien have double meanings; sometimes they are translated
literally, but other times their meaning has little to do with the literal translation.

90

 

associated with the Rada rite.10 His unpublished work contains thirty-nine folk songs
along with a discussion on the songs and various drum rhythms of Vodou, while his

dissertation contains seventy-six transcriptions of songs.

Both Courlander and Fleurant attended Vodou ceremonies, yet F leurant collected
his songs and transcribed them from field recordings taken at these ceremonies, as
Opposed to Courlander’s method of “studio recordings.”ll From 1982-1984, F leurant
collected, recorded and transcribed three hundred and fifty songs taken fi'om Rada
ceremonies. Tonton St. Jean, the cousin of Pressoir Louis, assisted in transcribing songs
texts analyzed in Dancing spirits.” Teiji Ito provided Fleurant with musical tapes his

late wife Maya Deren had collected from various ceremonies (Fleurant, 1996, viii). ‘3

The combined research of Courlander, J aegerhuber, Dauphin and Fleurant
illustrates the importance that studying and preserving Haitian indigenous music held for
Haitian and non-Haitian researchers throughout the twentieth century. Like J aegerhuber,
Fleurant provides a theoretical analysis of his ethnographic transcriptions, though

FleU-I‘ant’s analysis is wider and lengthier in scope, more like that done by Dauphin.14

10‘-x

fo All of the songs in F leurant’s unpublished work are included in his monograph, except

Z: three Yanvalou songs, Legba Lan Batye-A (31), Batiman Agwe Royo Debake (49) and

D Ewa Ezuli Map Dodoye (61). Likewise, almost all of the ceremonial music found in

"ancing Spirits is included in Fleurant’s dissertation.

the gey notes how Courlander held many of his recording sessions on the veranda of

the I”IOtel Olofl’son in Port-au-Prince due to the lack of electricity in the countryside and

12 Tdeteriorated roads that made travel diffith (Largey 2004, 8).

13 I:i’rlton is the word for uncle in Haitian Creole.

. ellrant’s fieldwork focused on a specific area, the Bon Repos (Epo) region located

if? Outside of Port-au-Prince.

Jae a‘egerhuber makes mention of form and modes for some of his transcriptions; yet
geI‘lruber’s focus seems to center more on the meaning of the song. For example,

 

91

 

son:-
limb

prm'l'd

WESR’TL

 

F leurant’s research focuses on the classification, interpretation and analysis of the
songs he transcribed; he breaks down his analysis into form, mode, melodic motion,
rhythm, text and line. Fleurant’s translations—along with discussion of the text—
provide his interpretation of each song. His setting of the ceremonial songs conforms to a
western system of analysis that may assist non-Haitian scholars in their tmderstanding of
the fundamentals of ceremonial music. However, unlike western music, the true
significance of these songs lies in their intrinsic spiritual meaning, not in their notation or

form.

Vodou as a Source of A mbivalence Among the Upper Classes

As mentioned in the introduction of this thesis, in addition to researching the
music of the Vodou ceremony, Fleurant has written extensively about the importance of
Vodou in Haitian culture, and has addressed the relationship the various social classes—
including the elites—have with Vodou. Fleurant illustrates how Haitians of all social

classes turn to Haiti’s indigenous religion when necessary:

Those unfamiliar with Haiti ofien question what part of the Haitian population is
linked to Vodou practice. Yet the more pertinent question may be, who is not? A
religion that sustained slaves, peasants, and the dispossessed, Vodou remains
inextricably ingrained in national culture. And though the country’s elite has
sought to distance itself from association with Vodou—rarely a status-symbol for

those eager to climb the social ladder—many members of the middle and upper

 

J aegerhuber equates the melodic line to the particular Iwa being represented (though he
does at times relate it to a particular scale—mode), discusses the mood of the songs (as it
relates to the Iwa), and the essence of the song (masculine versus feminine).

92

 

classes, in time of need, patronize Vodou rituals and avail themselves of the

advice and services of the oungan and manbo. (F leurant in Galembo 1998, 100)

Conflicting rhetoric towards Vodou continues to be a source of ambivalence for upper-
class Haitians. Yet, the ties to Vodou remain strong for many Haitians, even those who
do not support or practice it openly. In his article, Fleurant notes how “A large majority
of the middle class attends the Roman Catholic Church at the same time that they practice
vodoun as a way of life” (F leurant 1973, 184). 15 While members of the middle class and
elites disassociate themselves from Vodou in public, their belief in the powers of the

Haitian spirits is carried on in the privacy of their homes.

While many upper-class Haitians feel ambivalent about Vodou, the majority of
lower-class Haitians accept Vodou without conflict, with a few exceptions. Protestants
and Pentecostals Haitians adamantly oppose Vodou, and some of the peasantry do not
completely embrace it.16 In “The Weapons of Our Warfare: Music, Positionality, and
Transcendence Among Haitian Pentecostals” ethnomusicologist Melvin Butler explains

how “[Pentecostals] collectively articulate a theological orientation that is explicitly anti-

VOdou” (2008, 25), and notes that “many Pentecostals in the United States and Haiti

\

:5 In his article Fleurant notes that the elites as well as middle class practice Vodou;
AEthough a large majority of the elites attend the Roman Catholic Church, when under

Ous pressure many of them do pay a visit at night to the hougan or vodoun priest”
{Element 1973, 189).

Anthropologist Karen Richman notes that “despite the assertive, separatist stance of the
funClamentalists, Protestant practices are also blended ones” (2005, 24), meaning that
Ethough it may not have the overlap that Vodou has with Catholicism, some influence
tooth Vodou can be seen in Protestant practices. I witnessed this on one of my first visits
8. I\rljrehalais. There was a small group of Protestants walking through the streets,

lnging against the evils of Vodou. However, several of the musicians in the group were
Ialaying ceremonial drums, along with other percussion instruments linked to Vodou

monial music.

93

express a beliefthat Vodou is immoral and ‘Satanic,”’ (2008, 27).17 Even Catholicism in
Haiti is viewed negatively by many Pentecostals who believe that Catholics must secretly
serve the spirits in private because of the “apparent connection between the Catholic
saints and Vodou Iwa” (Butler 2008, 28), and because “[Catholicism] seems to serve as
the ‘default’ religion for those who have not ‘converted’ (kométi) into a Protestant or

Pentecostal fellowship” (Butler 2008, 54).“

While one can find lower-class Haitians who do not support Vodou, Vodou
continues to hold a central place in the life of the Haitian peasant. In a recent
conversation with Julio Racine about Vodou and Haitian culture, Racine stated “[Haitian
peasants] are not thinking about the culture; they are the culture.”19 Vodou has been
described as a “practical philosophy that provides solutions to everyday problems”

(F leurant 1973, 184).20 While Vodou is not the cure-all for Haiti’s ills and is not without

 

'7 Butler also addresses the relationship between Pentecostals and elites, noting that
“Pentecostals thus take seriously an evangelical mission to spread their particular version
of the gospel, even as they are collectively marginalized by Haitian elites who either
dismiss Pentecostalism as culturally shallow vis-a-vis more “authentic” Vodou culture, or
simply regard Pentecostalism as another unrefined, heathenish form of worship befitting
of the poor masses” (Butler 2008, 54-55).

18 Butler goes on to say that “Pentecostals in Haiti and its diaspora work through prayer,
preaching, and music making to attack what they perceive to be a Vodou-Catholic
stronghold on Haitian Society” (2008, 28). The link between Catholicism and Vodou is
understandable; some Haitians believe that “you have to be Catholic to serve your spirits
(lwa)” (quoted in Richman 2005, 23). According to Richman, “in a concerted efl‘ort to
hold on to its wayward flock, the [Catholic] Church consciously appropriates the
captivating styles of Vodou worship in its masses. Melodies that sound more like sacred
songs for the lwa are sung in the pews, while a battery of Vodou drums playing West
African—derived rhythms accompanies them” (2005 24).

'9 Personal correspondence, October 24, 2008.

1° Fleurant was not the only scholar who described Vodou in this manner. He later quotes
Alfied Metraux, a French anthropologist who wrote an ethnography of Haitian Vodou, as
saying, “Vodorm, as a monotheistic religion and a practical philosophical system, is the

94

its own problems, it remains an important aspect of Haitian life for those who serve the

spirits, regardless of class status.

The intrinsic meaning of Vodou and all that it encompasses reaches beyond any
definition given thus far in this study. F leurant calls Vodou “a whole system of
socialization” (F leurant 1973, 192). In his article, he describes how Mambo Mathilde
Beauvoir puts this system of socialization in easy to understand terms, “a humfor (a
temple) is not only a place to pray; it is also a hospital where people are cared for with
the use of natural products such as leaves and flowers.21 It is a nursery, a day care center,
where little ones are cared for fiee of charge while their mothers are away. It is also a
school where young girls learn how to sew, to cook, to wash clothes, to iron, etc.”
(quoted in F leurant 1973, 192). Fleurant continues “This social organization is the
backbone of Haiti, and the irony is that it is this aspect of Haitian way of life that the
middle and upper classes seem to despise most” (F leurant 1973, 192). Perhaps this is due
to failure on the part of some upper-class Haitians to look beyond the religious aspects of

Vodou, leaving them incapable of seeing its social and practical benefits.

From an external perspective, it may be difficult to understand why upper-class
Haitians would feel conflicted about a religion that seems to be a positive force in Haitian
life. At the 2008 Haitian Studies Association meeting in Haiti, several panels touched on
Vodou’s positive attributes as it relates to education, culture, transnationalism, and other
topics. Fleurant noted how Vodou is “nonsexist, nonracist, and nonclassist”, and—I

would add—nondenominational, thereby encompassing all individuals; “Vodou places

 

heart of peasant life, the center pillar of the extended family system throughout the
country” (quoted in F leurant 1973, 191).
2' Humfor is the old orthography spelling for oufo.

95

emphasis on the person first and foremost” (F leurant, HSA meeting, 2008). Yet, even
while there are many who focus on the benefits of Vodou, the negative attitude of the
international community towards Vodou since the early twentieth century is difficult for
upper-class Haitians to forget, especially when stereotypes and misconceptions about
Vodou continue to flourish inside and outside of Haiti today. Many lower-class Haitians
have more to worry about than what others think; they are less concerned with the
rhetoric surrounding Vodou and more concerned with surviving on a daily basis—where
their next meal is coming from or how and pay for their children to go to school. Yet,
there are some lower-class Haitians who must deal with those negative aspects of Vodou

that often stem from ambivalent family or community members.

While Vodou encompasses a great deal of good, there are many problems
associated with traditional peasant culture and religion that negatively impact some
Haitians, especially rural peasants. A lack of education and strong belief in superstition
are two issues that hold back many rural Haitians. Additionally, even Haitian peasants
who “serve the spirits” do not necessarily do so wholeheartedly and without problems. In
Vodou and Migration, anthropologist Karen Richman writes about Vodou’s negative
impact in Haitian migrant communities like those found in Iéofire, Haiti. She provides
numerous examples of ambivalent family members who expect their migrant kin to send
money home to help support them, yet treat these same kin apathetically and reproach

them when they return home for visits.22 One reason for this behavior is “The home kin’s

 

22 According to Richman, “the growing literature on domestic relations across
transnational communities suggests that mutual ambivalence between long-separated
home kin and their migrant emissaries is very widespread (Basch, Glick-Schiller, Szanton
Blanc 1994; Brown 1991; Gmelch 1992; Wolk 2000)” (Richman 2005, 247). She
provides an example of her Haitian fiiend, Little Caterpillar, who was a migrant worker

96

x . s—wr-J VA nut——

 

protracted dependence on the migrants’ remittances symbolically elevates the migrants,
who are typically younger, to a superior status” (Richman 2005, 248). In response to
this, “migrant kin” make use of pwen “to admonish those at home about their ambivalent

treatment of their migrant emissaries” (Richman 2005, 29).23

In a paradoxical turn of events, Haitian migrants who are without family and often
living in substandard and even squalid conditions with little or no money (because they
are sending the majority of the earnings back to family members in Haiti), are not only
faced with ambivalence from their family members; they and their family must deal with
even great problems generated by jealous people within their community. Richman notes
how “Sorcery is a peasant social weapon to wield against individuals ambition and

greed” (2005, 207). 24 Successful people in peasant communities are often coveted for

 

in the United States and sent money home to his family on a regular basis. In Richman’s
words, “Se Byen’s ambivalent behavior toward Little Caterpillar was typical: he
deliberately ignored his mercenary, disavowing thereby his consumption of the latter’s
tainted wages. At the same time Se Byen accused Little Caterpillar of assuming a callous
arrogance, of frivolously squandering his money in the foreign country while his family
in Haiti went hungry” (Richman 2005, 232).

23 Pwen is similar to signifying in African American music. It has been defined by
sociologist/anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown as “anything that captures the essence
or pith of a complex situation” (1987, 151-152). Pwen is translated as “point,” as in
“making a point.” Musicians are said to voye pwen yo (send points) or chan pwen yo
(sing points). In these cases, verses contain a hidden/double meaning, making a point—a
pwen—for the person they are directed at. She notes other studies that demoan how
the use of pwen in song enables “otherwise powerless Haitians [to] wield songs as vital
social and political weapons” (Richman 2005, 222). Richman also describes pwen and
its association with Magic, “Maji [Magic] is often used in a narrow sense to mean sorcery
and the class of powers known as pwen” (Richman 2005, 151). She explains “Pwen are
the peasants’ symbolic imitations of alienated labor power, the inside essence of
capitalism. Through representations of pwen, the peasants symbolically control and
make sense of their incorporation as producers of alienated wage laborers for export to
capital abroad” (2005, 218).

24 While Vodou itself is a healing religion, like many religious practices there are
instances where some people commit wrongful acts in the name of their faith.

97

 

their wealth; those coveting what they have fiequently find ways to bring pain, suffering

and even death to them.

Social Class and Conflict in Haiti

As mentioned earlier, Fleurant wrote his article about social class in Haiti during a

time when few Haitians talked openly about color prejudices or conflicts between social

 

l'
classes.” His article illustrates how there are different ways of being ambivalent in Haiti
depending on one’s social class. Unlike Herskovits, who placed the blame for Haiti’s
problems on the “socialized ambivalence” of the peasants, F leurant looks internally at the
conflicts between social classes and argues that much of Haiti’s economic and social ‘*

issues are a result of external influences in addition to conflicts between social classes. 26
He asserts that “Caste and class conflicts, encouraged by the manipulations and
instigation of other countries, appear to be largely responsible for the sorry state of
present-day Haiti” (Fleurant 1973, 179), and that elites “are the principal enforcers of the

caste and class system in Haiti and beneficiaries of the status quo” (Fleurant 1973, 187).27

 

25 While the 19703 was a time when few Haitians discussed conflicts between the social
classes publicly, people like Price-Mars were outspoken in their writings as early as the
19203. Largey notes that Price-Mars “blamed the elite for having the same class
prejudices as the French colonials. . .” (Largey 2006, 50). In Ainsi parla l’oncle (So
Spoke the Uncle), Price-Mars strongly criticizes Haitian elites for ignoring what he
considered to be responsibility for their poorer fellow citizens (Price-Mars 1928/1983,
105-106).

26 While F leurant asserts that “caste and class antagonisms. . .are the very basis for the
deterioration of present-day Haiti (F leurant 1973, 192), he cautions that “a sociological
analysis [of present-day Haiti] should be careful not to project the impression that the
Haitians alone are the cause of their shortcomings” (F leurant 1973, 179). In a recent
interview Fleurant stated that the same argument applies to Haiti today (interview with
author, November 7, 2008).

27 Interestingly, while F leurant speaks out against elite’s attitudes and comes from
middle-class roots, as a retired college professor with a PhD from a prestigious American
university Fleurant is himself an elite intellectual by Haiti’s social class standards.

98

Fleurant’s examination of how external forces outside of Haiti affect these conflicts

focuses on how the educational system in Haiti works to the detriment of Haitians.

At the heart of the class conflict in Haiti is the issue of color prejudice among
Haitians. In looking at class conflicts from a historical perspective, F leurant notes how
“color has always been at the center of the conflicts between classes in the course of
Haitian history” (F leurant 1973, 179). He maintains that “[color] has functioned as a
boundary maintaining device” (Fleurant 1973, 185), thereby establishing a caste system

initiated by external influences:

 

Color prejudice, a manifestation of class exploitation, is too often seen as the '-*~'
actual cause of the conflicts. It is the result, however, of an educational system

dominated by foreign ideas and interests. These interests found that a code of

socioeconomic distance based on color was not difficult to enforce. The present

structure ofHaiti has its roots in the colonial period when color was used as a

means of social control (Fletuant 1973, 192).23

Preference for lighter skin and the acquisition of a higher social class is an attempt by
upper-class Haitians to appear more European and to gain acceptance fiom those outside
of Haiti. In Vodou Nation, Largey notes skin color as one factor among several that
affects Haitian’s social status; “While skin color plays an important role in establishing

and maintaining social differences in Haiti, skin color is only one of several

 

’3 In Fleurant’s opinion, “the distribution of wealth, status and power” in Haiti is virtually
the same in 1973 as it was when Haiti gained its independence in 1804 (F leurant 1973,
182), and that “the essential relations between classes [in Haitian society] have not
changed for over a century” (183). In 2008, it is still much the same as it has been
throughout history (interview with author, November 7, 2008).

99

characteristics that determines a person’s social standing. Other factors include an
individual’s phenotype, education, and something Michel-Rolph Trouillot calls a
person’s ‘social direction,’ or ‘the measure of the social distance between what is thought

to be known of his or her future” (quoted in Largey 2006, 9).

While they cannot change the fact that they are Haitian, many upper-class
Haitians do whatever they can to distance themselves as much as possible fiom what they
perceive to be their African heritage—and those associated with it—in hopes of raising

their own status in Haitian society and in the eyes of the international community. As

 

noted in the first chapter, Jean Price-Mars confi'onted the elite on numerous occasions in
his lectures and writings, due to their “nostalgia for the lost mother country [France]” and
the apathetical attitude towards “all that is authentically indigenous—language, customs,
sentiments, beliefs” (Price-Mars [1928] 1983, 8). Yet, not all elite Haitians have share

their class’s ambivalence or apathy towards Vodou and traditional culture.

There are times when upper-class Haitians do support Vodou openly; however,
members of the elite who would embrace their culture face difficulties being accepted by
their peers. This occurs whether they are dark-skinned—in the case of Fleurant—or
light-skinned—in the case of Patrick Bellegarde-Smith. A “light-skinned” member of
Haiti’s elite class, Bellegarde-Smith is also an initiated ougan. During the KOSANBA
international colloquium in 2007, Bellegarde-Smith, an Africanist at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, discussed the issues he faces in Haiti and in his hometown in
Wisconsin regarding his beliefs in Vodou. He noted that in Haiti, he has trouble being
accepted because of his race and class, and that in his “coming out of the closet as a

Vodou priest” on campus (in the United States), people are somewhat resentful because,

100

in his words, he has “not been very quiet” about his beliefs (Bellegarde-Smith,

KOSANBA conference, 2007).

Language is another factor that affects one’s social status in Haitian society and is
a catalyst for conflict between Haiti’s social classes. Largey notes that “the ability to
speak French” is an “important factor in determining a person’s social status” (Largey
2006, 10), and Bourguignon asserts that language is a source of ambivalence for upper-
class Haitians (Bourguignon 1969, 175, 176). The research done by Bourguignon took
place in the mid-twentieth century, while Largey’s research has taken place during the
late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Thus, the issues of social class and conflict
confronting Haitians at the time of F leurant’s article continue to be a concern for Haitians

today.29
Haiti ’s Middle and Upper Class and the Haitian Educational System Until I 979

In the early twentieth century, Price-Mars saw Haiti’s upper class as playing a
potentially major role in improving Haiti’s educational system. According to Largey,
“For Price-Mars, education and ethnographic research were the principle tools for forging
this new alliance between social classes that were accustomed to fighting each other for
control of the Haitian state. In [Price-Mars’s] vision for Haiti, elites would provide uplift
to the poverty-stricken masses through educational reform” (Largey 2006, 43). Largey

notes that “As director of Public Education in Haiti from 1912-1916, [Price-Mars] sought

 

’9 Largey also asserts that “many elite Haitians consider the Kreyol language to be an
inferior form of communication at best and a bastardized form of French at worst (2006,
10). In an interview he conducted with two elite Haitian women, Largey notes one
women’s comment that Kreyd was not a “real language” and the other woman as stating
that Krefi was “a defamation of the French language” (2006, 245). Kreydl is the Haitian
IPN spelling for Creole.

101

both to extend education opportunities to the Haitian masses and to reform a French
educational model that stressed literature over vocational training” (Largey 2006, 2).
Despite Price-Mars’s vision, the reforms did not occur due to the invasion of American
forces in 1915. Throughout the US. occupation and following the troops’ departure in
1934, Haiti’s educational system continued to be geared towards the upper classes, and

the void between the social classes remained intact.

In F leurant’s discussion of Haiti’s educational system, he sees more harm than
good for Haiti’s upper classes. Fleurant refers to middle-class Haitians as being
“miseducated” because the educational system in Haiti “was designed for the sons of the
elites, an educational process utterly oriented toward the outside world, particularly
France” (F leurant 1973, 184).30 He notes how in the mid 19603 most Haitians
completing secondary school “knew more about France and the outside world than about
Haiti” (F luerant 1973,184), and that in 19705, “textbooks in Haiti. . .may not change for as

many as 20 years” (Fleurant 1973, 185).” Fleurant’s comments regarding Haitians’

 

30According to one website source on Haitian education, “This curriculum remained
basically unchanged until the education reform of 1978
(www.cal.org/CO/haiti/heduhtml). It also noted that rural schools would often focus on
vocational education and agronomy.

31 It should be noted that while the Haitian educational system is more up-to-date today in
some of its teachings——including Haitian Creole and Haitian history—some of the same
problems continue to exist. In a conversation with Julio Racine and his wife, I asked
what the school system was like for their three children in Haiti during the 19708 and
19805. When their youngest son was in school, in the mid-1980s, there was a shift in
educational focus. Students in the primary grades were being taught in Creole as well as
learning French, and Haitian history was being taught in the schools, as opposed to
French history. When the Racine’s brought their children to the US. in the mid—19803
(after the ousting of Baby Doc Duvalier), their son’s eighth grade education seemed to be
much advanced compared to what his US. counterparts were covering at the same grade
level. However, as noted later in this chapter, the problem with learning by rote—as
opposed to teaching critical thinking, the poor quality of instruction in some schools, and
the disparities between urban and rural schools and public and private schools persist.

102

educational focus on France versus Haiti in the 1960s is substantiated by the research
done by Bourguignon during that time period. As discussed in chapter one of this study,
Bourguignon noted how the emphasis on French literature and history (rather than
Haitian literature and history) resulted in ambivalent feelings among elite Haitians
(Bourguignon 1969, 176). Later in his article, Fleurant continues his analysis of the

Haitian educational system, this time as it applies to the elite:

The education and religious practices of the bourgeoisie [elites] are alien to Haiti.
The educational system is based on the F rencb model. It is primarily a classical
education designed to enhance and perpetuate the love of France and the
superiority of its culture. In Haitian society, education and religion are separable
only analytically, for the establishments dispensing it to the children of the elites
are primarily religious. Since the Concordat of 1860, the Roman Catholic Church
has become the church of the state and as such has enjoyed a monopoly on the
Haitian educational system. The caste structure is also maintained through such a

combination. (F leurant 1973, 189)

Fleurant illustrates how the role of what he terms the caste structure is maintained, noting
how mulatto students were favored over darker-skinned students in religious schools
(Fleurant 1973, 189). In the conclusion of his article, F leurant expands upon how the
Catholic Church-run schools as well as schools not affiliated with the church, instill “two
contrasting values in the Haitian population: (1) the hate of everything black, Afiican, or
Haitian and (2) the love of everything white, French, or etranger” (F leurant 1973, 192).32

Fleurant’s comments are also exemplified, in part, by the treatment of dark-skinned

32\
L ’etranger refers to “stranger” or “foreigner”.

103

Haitians, and the preference of speaking French versus Creole. It also explains the

ambivalence felt by middle and upper-class Haitians towards Vodou. While I would not
go so far as to use the powerful terms hate and love, some of F leurant’s points are echoed

in a similar (though less judgmental) manner by Bourguignon in chapter one of this
study.

F leurant sees the same issues in Haiti’s class system today that existed while he
was there as a student. The main difference is that now there is a new dimension—the
diaspora, Haiti’s tenth department—that has more economic power than those in Haiti.33
He sees Haiti’s recent problems of the late 19903 and into the twenty-first century as
being a result of a moral and educational crisis. While the Haitian educational system
Provides more instruction today in Haitian Creole and Haitian history, he feels that such
iIlStr'uction is superficial. Fleurant thinks that there is not enough focus in Haitian

education on civics; it has been taken out of the curriculum}4

The Haitian Educational System, 1979-2008

In 1979, six years after Fleurant wrote his article on class conflicts and the

education in Haiti, the Haitian educational system reached a critical juncture; the

 

\
33 Haiti is divided into nine departments (regions within Haiti). According to Michael
gey, “By the time that Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected in 1990,
the Haitian diaspora was recognized by Haitians at home and abroad as a significant
°9nurbutor to the Haitian economy and political life. Aristide labeled the Haitian
dla§pora the ‘tenth department’ as a way to acknowledge the importance of overseas
Haftians in the affairs of the Haitian state. Haiti has nine chrartments or states; overseas
Haltians are thus metaphorically included in the Haitian state as the tenth department”
34 ey, Haitians in Michigan forthcoming, chapter 2).
Personal correspondence with author, November 6, 2008. Civics includes teaching the

Q

I181113 of people, the history of the flag, and the duties of citizenship.

104

disparities between urban and rural schools, between private and public schools, the poor
quality of instruction in public schools, low salaries, and high tuitions led to a major
overhaul of the educational system in Haiti (Prou, HSA meeting, November 7, 2008).35
Before the reform, the rural schools were under the Ministry of Agriculture while the
urban schools fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. The differences in
funding and focus were what led in large part to the disparities between rural and urban T
schools. “In 1978, primary schools, both urban and rural, were merged under the i
auspices of the National Department of Education (DEN).”36 While the changes were ,

initiated in 1979, they did not go into effect until 1982 (Prou 2008).

 

The reforms, in part, were initiated to make education more accessible to the
majority of Haitians—the rural poor—and to meet their needs. As part of the overhaul,
Haitian Creole was introduced as an official language of instruction for the first four
grades in primary school. Although Creole was used for speaking, texts were still in
French, and assignments were written in French. While it was acknowledged that Creole
“met the linguistic needs of many Haitians, it was constantly under fire” (Prou 2008).
Marc Prou, a Haitian educator at the University of Boston-Massachusetts, spent two
months in the summer of 2008 doing research on Haiti’s current educational system at the
Office of the Ministry in Haiti. In a paper presentation he gave at the 2008 Haitian
Studies Association national meeting, Prou stated that “the official mandate of Haitian

Creole as a language of instruction created a greater sense of democratic access for

 

35 Prou notes the reforms as taking place in 1978, but elsewhere, I have seen it

documented in 1978 (www.cal.org/CO/haiti/heduhtml) and the 19808

(W__\LW.education.stateuniversity.com/pages/603/Haiti-SUMMARY.html). This explains

3516 discrepancy in education reform dates noted in this paragraph.
MD://www.cal/org/CO/haiti/hedu.html.

105

students, yet the Reform Act was doomed to fail, as actors and agents undermined its

process” (Prou 2008).37

In addition to the use of spoken Haitian Creole in primary school, the reforms
included other initiatives that would benefit lower-class Haitians, especially those in rural
areas. These changes included a more effective rural school system, a more effective
basic educational system, better teacher training, a literacy program, the creation of an
inspection and supervision agency, rational timetables, and experimentation to test the

new ideas.38

Prou also notes how Haiti has a “unique educational system”, where “an
overwhelming majority of students—75-80%—-are enrolled in private schools” (Prou,
2008). According to Prou, in the 19803 and 1990s, 85% of the primary and secondary
schools in Haiti were private schools.39 On top of this, Prou explained that “access to
primary education for the majority of the population remains a challenge since the
[Reform Act]” (Prou 2008). This problem is compounded in rural areas, where private

schools are few and public schools lack staff, materials, and face other challenges.

 

37 Other sources note that “Despite the reforms, obtaining an education in Haiti remains
an elusive goal for most. . .the majority of Haitians do not have access to it. . .Even though
education is technically free in Haiti, it remains beyond the means of most Haitians, who
cannot afford the supplemental fees, school supplies, and uniforms required. Reform
measures, especially the use of Haitian Creole, have met resistance.” Thus, education
remains a privilege of the upper and middle classes, with fluency in French a marker of
success” (www.cal/org/CO/haiti/heduhtml).

38 www.cducation.stateuniversitv.com/pages/603/Haiti-SUMMARY.html.

39 Other sources note that “In 1998-1999. . .83.60 percent [of all schools in Haiti] were
private” and that “private schools have outnumbered public schools consistently since
1975, partly because of the Protestant schools created in the country for humanitarian
purposes and partly because of the entrepreneurial schools that have sprung like
mushrooms in the past two decades”
(www.cducation.stateuniversity.com/pages/éO3/llaiti-Pregimary & Primary
Educationhtml).

 

 

 

106

 

According to Haiti Lumiere de Demain, an organization that is dedicated to reducing
illiteracy in Haiti, “the lack of educational opportunities in the provinces is three-fold:
scarcity of teachers, a lack of governmental education policy, and the country’s economic

reliance on agriculture, which values child labor more than a child’s education.40

In discussing Haiti’s educational system today, Prou remarked that the overall
quality of teachers is still poor in public schools; one needs only to visit schools in Haiti
to note the disparities that continue to exist between public and private schools, and rural
and urban schools. Classes are still being taught in Creole as well as French, yet texts
continue to be in French only, and schools still appear to be in “pre-reforrn mode” (Prou
2008). While in Haiti for the 2008 HSA conference, I had the opportunity to spend the
majority of two days at a primary and secondary school in Port-au-Prince sponsored by
the Episcopal Church. During my stay, I observed that teaching by rote and

memorization is still common practice.’1

In 1990, when Jean Bertrande-Aristide was elected President of Haiti, there was
hope once again for changes in education reform. Smith writes “During Aristide’s first
few months in office, unprecedented efforts were launched to... initiate advances in the
areas of public health, human rights, education and domestic production” (Smith 2001,

25). In a press conference the day after she returned from a visit to Haiti,

 

’0 www.haitilumiere.org/abtus/abtus.htm. One can take issue with the latter part of this

quote; numerous sources note that the majority of Haitian families place a strong
emphasis on education, and often go without in order to send their children to school.
Many families also rely on the remittances sent back fiom the diaspora by other family
members to offset education expenses (Wagner, 2007).

’1 During the 2008 HSA meeting panel on education, I asked if teaching by rote was still
done throughout Haiti; many Haitian educators from Haiti and the diaspora conceded that
this continued to be common practice. Their responses and comments expressed their
dismay.

107

 

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Congresswoman Maxine Waters stated “President Aristide has also made health care and
education national priorities. More schools were built in Haiti between 1994 and 2000
than between 1804 and 1994. The government expanded school lunch and school bus
programs and provides a 70% subsidy for schoolbooks and uniforms” (Waters, press
conference, February 11, 2004).42 However, Aristide was overthrown in a coup d’etat
less than three weeks after the press conference, only eight months into his second term
as President. Thereafter,the situation in Haiti declined rapidly with the destruction of

schools, hospitals, and other government buildings.43

Haiti’s educational reforms were announced to the international community in
2001, during Aristide’s second term as President; however, little overall change has been
documented in Haiti’s educational system since the Reform Act went into effect. Thus,
many of the issues that confronted Haitians before the reform persist today. One source
notes that “the Livre ouvert sur le développement endogéne d ’Hai'ti, a collective work of

analysis that tries to tackle the country’s problems for ordinary citizens, mentions, among

 

’2 In another report, writer and activist Justin F elux echoed Water’s remarks about
Aristide’s commitment to education. Aristide’s “Universal Schooling Program” was
designed to provide an education for all Haitian children, with Aristide “mandating that
20% of the national budget go to education” (report by Haiti News Watch). Felux also
noted that the Haitian government under Aristide had made “enormous strides in
improving illiteracy. . .In the summer of 2001, the Haitian government launched a
national literacy campaign. The Secretary of State for Literacy has printed two million
literacy manuals, and trained thousands of college and high school students as literacy
workers. The students committed to teach throughout the country for the next three
years. Working with the church and voudouizan groups, popular organizations and
thousands of women’s groups across the country, the government has opened 20,000
adult literacy centers” (Felux, www.haitiaction.nt/News/HNW/1 1 2 4.html).

43 According to The Spokesman, “The Washington Post reports that the uprising began
when rebels took the city of Gonaives on February 5, 2004. . .govemment supporters burn
down homes in cities, opposition groups attack gas stations, gunmen burn and loot police
stations, and rebels take over undefended cities and towns” (quoted in The Spokesman,
the independent newspaper of Morgan State University, March 5, 2004).

 

108

other disappointing statistics in education, the continuing high attrition rate, the
extremely high rate of failure in the baccalaureat, and the extremely high illiteracy
rate.”44 Indeed, little has changed since W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1944 speech regarding

education, after the establishment of the University of Haiti:

“There are two different things that we envision in education: one is the
preparation for the acquisition of a technique; the other is the preparation of the
man who will exercise that technique and for whom that technique exists. If,
without considering the man, we prepare his hands for the accomplishment of
manual work, after the accomplishment of this work he leaves us always with
these questions: Why was it done? For who? What is the goal of work in the

world?” (quoted in Silvia 2008).45

Regarding Higher Education in Haiti, 2005-2006 data provided in the World Higher
Education Database (WHED) states that “At present, the educational reform has not yet
been generalized and the traditional system still prevails. Based on the French system,
secondary education lasts for seven years...” (World Higher Education Database, 2005-

2006 Haiti-Education system report).

After 197 8 the Haitian educational system attempted to refocus its direction to
benefit poor Haitians; yet the economic instability of the country due to high costs and
natural disasters—with three hurricanes and a tropical storm within three weeks of each
other in 200er continued to create problems. The collapse of two schools and the

partial collapse of a third within days of each other in early November 2008 closed down

 

44

 

www.cducation.stateuniversity.com/pages/603/Haiti-SUMMARYhtml.
45 The author wishes to extend gratitude to Mr. Silvia for his assistance with this study.

109

schools throughout the country for a short period of time. Several years ago, riots after
the removal of then President Jean Bertrand Aristide led to the closing of schools,
disrupting studies and later extending the school year into July. Yet the Haitian peasantry
continues to go about their daily lives, focusing on the present—not the future—and

doing what they can day by day to survive.

The Haitian Peasantry

In addition to issues with the educational system, F leurant seems to place much of
the blame regarding ambivalence and conflict with the middle and upper class of Haiti.
When discussing the Haitian peasants, Fleurant refers to them as “the backbone of Haiti”
(F leurant 1973, 190). This reference to the peasants could not be more fitting; without

the work provided by the peasants, daily life in Haiti would come to a standstill.46

In his article, he explains the relationship that the upper and middle classes have

with the peasantry fi'om his point of view:

The attitudes of the upper and middle classes toward the peasant are summarized
in a series of ready—made and preconceived ideas. To them, the peasant is
everything non-worldly, which to these classes implies non-European. Creole, for
example, is a bastard dialect and not to be spoken in public or the living room,
French being “la langue de salon.” Vodoun is also dismissed as a savage cult
whose adepts are the personification of backwardness and superstitious behaviors.
As late as 1957 the elites referred openly to the peasants as the “ruraux,” a

pejorative epithet equivalent to “primitives,” “rurals,” or “natives.” In the views

 

’6 In F leurant’s words, “Should the peasantry go on strike, the entire country could be
paralyzed” (Fleurant 1973, 191).

110

of the upper and middle class, the peasants are stupid, uneducable, and
thickheaded. They are the “negres sottes” or the “gros orteils” that will have to be
broken in or “degrossir” in order to make them suitable to work in the houses of

the elites or in the cities (F leurant 1973, 191).47

While F leurant’s impassioned views about how elites feel towards the peasantry are all
too-often true, there is evidence to support that not all elites share these feelings.48
Indeed, many of the composers and educators mentioned in this study who are advocates
for traditional Haitian culture would be deemed “elite” in regards to social standing in
Haiti, and I know of a number of Haitians and non-Haitians from the elite class who are

initiated Vodou priests and priestesses.

The peasantry is the group of people who transport and provide food, clothing,
and other goods at the markets, the people who often do much of the labor that others
from the middle class would not want to do (and those from the upper class would never

consider doing). Largey notes how “urban dwellers depended on abitan [peasants] not

 

’7 In Vodou Nation, Largey also references some of the terms used by elite Haitians to
describe those outside of their social class, including: malpwdpte (unwashed), malere
(ill-bred), malere (or maleréz when referring to a woman, meaning without money, poor),
and mizerab (pitiful, poor) (Largey 2006, ll).

‘3 Many middle to upper-class Haitians in the diaspora are helping to reshape Haiti and
the Haitian communities where they reside. They work to make the lives of peasants
better in Haiti through financial means or hands—on projects that build schools, clean
water systems, and health care facilities throughout the countryside. They organize
groups in the diaspora to raise awareness—as well as funds—for those in Haiti who are
most in need. Many also support traditional Afiican-derived Haitian culture, as evidence
by those from throughout the diaspora who return to Haiti for various holy days,
including the pilgrimage to Saut d’Eau. The pilgrimage to Saut d’ Eau on 16 July each
year is an important day in both Catholicism and Vodou. It is said that an apparition of
the Virgin Mary appeared in the top of a palm tree near the waterfall in the village of
Bonheur, located in the Central Plateau. Vodou ceremonies take place in the open during
the day and throughout the nights surrounding the celebration.

111

 

 

only for food but also for the tax revenues that supported them” and that “this pattern has
persisted through the twentieth centrn'y” (Largey 2006, 11). This paradox is at the heart
of ambivalence in Haitian society between the social classes; middle and upper-class
Haitians still look down on the peasants today, yet their survival, sustainability and
economic stability are dependent upon the peasantry."9 Even former Haitian president
Aristide noted the separation between the classes, stating that “seventy-eight percent of
the Haitian population lives in the countryside. It’s a kind of social apartheid, an
invisible apartheid” (Aristide 1998). The peasantry is tolerated as long as it is of service
to the upper classes, yet their work, significance and contributions remain

unacknowledged by the elite.

F leurant’s summary of the external forces—including the educational system that
emphasized European values versus Afiican values—provides insight into why upper-
class Haitians feel ambivalent when it comes to Vodou, the peasant class and their own

identity as Haitians. Fleurant explains:

The attitudes, values, and characteristics of the various classes of Haiti thus
become understandable, and it would be surprising if they were otherwise. The
middle and upper class aversion to manual labor, Vodoun, and other

manifestations of Haitian culture both material and nonmaterial, and their love of

 

’9 It is interesting to note Smith’s assertion that “The Haitian elite has consistently
expressed nostalgic pride in the music of the peasantry and at times, has been quite savvy
in converting it from cultural capital into economic and political capital (Smith 2001, 47).
While issue can be taken with the former part of her statement—since it is evidenced that
elites have not always supported the music of the peasantry—the exploitation of peasant
culture for monetary gain has taken place since the early twentieth century and continues
today.

112

French poetry, culture, and “produits de France” also should be seen in this light.
These attitudes result in the “self-hate” that explains the inferiority complex,
almost inherent in the middle and upper class Haitians, when facing the white
foreigner and his culture. The proletariat [lower class urban Haitians] and the
peasantry, about 90 percent of the total population, bear the burden of upper class

social inadequacies. (Fleurant 1973, 192)

Fleurant’s strong convictions and literal attack on Haiti’s elite fails to mention the large
nlnnber of upper-class Haitians who, like himself, share a strong alliance and stand
together with Haiti’s lower class. Many of these people—often referred to as
intellectuals—were educated in the Haitian diaspora and have either returned to Haiti or

keep close ties with what is happening there, supporting their country in various ways.50

Difi'erent perspectives provide alternate ways of explaining elite’s relationship
and reaction to lower-class culture. F leurant sees elite Haitians as having an “inferiority
complex,” yet, the association with French culture felt by middle and upper class Haitians
and their ambivalence is understandable, considering Haiti’s tumultuous and often violent
history when it comes to traditional Haitian culture. Given that Haiti was not recognized
by the Catholic Church or the rest of the world following their independence, the anti-
superstition campaign that resulted in the death of many people associated with Vodou,

and the stereotypes and negative depictions of Vodou throughout the world, many

 

50 These include providing financial support for various organizations in Haiti, using
positions in higher education to assist Haitian students wishing to study abroad, and

acqtunng an education in the field of medicine and other area of public service, then
returning to Haiti to improve conditions in various parts of the country.

113

Haitians have a reason to be conflicted and indecisive when it comes to anything

connected to Vodou.

I spoke with others besides Fleurant who commented on the European influence
on Haiti’s upper classes. In an interview with Racine in 2005, he noted how, for along
period of time after Haiti’s independence, school teachers were French, not Haitian, and
people traveled to France and Germany to study.5 1 This explains, in part, the strong
European influence and desire of middle and upper class Haitians to be associated with
their French heritage versus their Afiican background. What F leurant sees as “self-hate”
and an inferiority complex in the middle and upper classes can be explained as
ambivalence for the conflicting information these classes have received throughout their

lifetime, as was discussed in the first chapter of this study.

While Fleurant is within his right to critique elites by emphasizing the importance
of Afiican culture and noting that it should be recognized as a part of their heritage, it is
also important to recognize and acknowledge the significance of French culture as noted

in chapter one; all Haitians—regardless of class or color—share a dual identity.

Countering several of Fleurant’s claims, Richman provides evidence of the
difficulties encountered by peasants, especially those associated with Vodou. In addition

to the ramifications of ambivalence felt towards migrant workers and discussed earlier in

 

5 ' Julio Racine, interview with author, April 2, 2005. Traveling outside of Haiti to
receive an education continues today, for those who have the financial means to do so.
This is especially true in the field of music, as the National Conservatory no longer
exists. The music school at Holy Trinity provides music instruction for students, but
many of the school’s teachers continue to study with American instructors who travel to
Haiti throughout the year. Several of these Haitian teachers come to the United States for
short periods of time each year on tourist visas to study music privately in order to better
their skills.

114

this study, Richman notes how peasants have deal with ailments inflicted by vengeful Iwa
who feel neglected by their families; “Should [a person] neglect her lwa by failing to
send money home for ritual purposes, the lwa, who can instantly traverse international
borders, may show their displeasure by afflicting her with chronic illness, provoking her

employer to fire her, or causing her savings to vanish” (2005, 141).

The stigma of wage labor is another prominent issue in peasant society; it affects
peasants social status in their community and how they treated by others.52 Rather than
looking at working for wage in a positive light as a way to support their families,
peasants refer to those who work for money as “j obbers” (djobé) and “zombies” (zonbi)”
(Richman 2005, 111), whether it be work in the cities or in the countryside.53 According
to Richman, “the disgrace of working for a superior is profound” (2005, 111). People
would prefer to fish or work their own land than work for substandard pay for somebody
else. The ambivalence felt by upper-class Haitians towards the lower class is thus echoed
in the attitudes of the peasant landowners and sharecroppers towards the working-class

(proletarians) (Richman 2005, 15 l).

Anthropologist Jennie Smith also touches on the relationship between peasants
and the upper classes in When the Hands are Many: Community Organization and Social

Change in Rural Haiti (2001).54 In her monograph, Smith notes a comment made by a

 

52 Wage labor refers to peasants doing agricultural work for pay as opposed to farming
their own land. (See Richman 2005, 111).

53 “Zombie” in Creole is a metaphor for slave—someone who is made to do something
against their will—and has little to do with Hollywood’s depiction of the term. However,
in some of the superstitious beliefs discussed earlier in this study, there are some peasants
who believe that sorcery can raise people fi'om the dead and turn them into zonbi yo.

5" Smith notes how “Haitian peasants have also been confronted with a variety of
dehumanizing stereotypes fiom sectors of their own society”, and observed what she

115

machann, or market woman, that summarizes the important role peasants play as

providers in the Haitian economic system:55

If the “big men” in town have anything, it’s because we provide it to them. If we
don’t carry our beans down to the cities, they won’t eat beans. If we don’t carry
our oranges down there, they won’t drink juice. But us, we don’t need them. So
we can’t let them fool us into serving their interests! We can’t let ourselves be

trumped in this game (quoted in Smith, 2001, 164).56

Smith’s research also focuses on the relationship between peasant agency, indigenous
culture and education in rural Haiti. By examining peasant agency and indigenous
culture as it relates to education, we can gain further insight into the issues facing
Haitians—especially rural Haitians—regarding education, whether discussing academics,

health care, or vocational studies.
Peasant Agency, Traditional Culture, and Education in Rural Haiti

In its struggle to survive against poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy, Haiti’s rural
population utilizes peasant agency through a system referred to as youn éde lo‘t (literally,
one helps another), the collaborative and cooperative system that people within rural
communities undertake to assist one another in times of need. Peasants utilize indigenous
culture in their daily lives as they work and pray (through oral tradition), as they celebrate

(through the use of music and dance) and as they care for one another (through natural

 

 

 

termed as “interclass shaming” while conducting her research. This occurred when
peasants who worked in the fields were made to feel ashamed because they “smelled of
kdve” (Smith 2001, 188). Kdve yo refers to the forced labor initiated by the American
troops during the first United States occupation of Haiti.

55 A machann is a peasant “market woman” who sells her goods in the cities of Haiti.

56 The term “big men” implies—the bourgeois—people of the upper classes.

116

 

1.7,... l, v

and spiritual healing methods). In When the Hands are Many: Community Organization
and Social Change in Rural Haiti, anthropologist Jennie Smith quotes one of the leaders
of a peasant womens’ organization—a quote which encompasses what the peasant class

in present day Haiti is thinking and doing:

We have tied our umbilical cords together so that we can move our country
forward...so that we can live as humans were meant to live.. .so that we can have

decent homes, health clinics, schools, roads, good hospitals, [so that] we can

realize our rights as people, so that we can live as humans (Smith 2001, 141).

This woman’s comments display the depth of feeling and the importance of education
that Haitians—especially some in Haiti’s peasant class—feel. However, not all peasants
feel that education is important, and there are many ways in which peasant cooperation

and progress is impeded on a daily basis throughout the countryside.

A number of scholars have written books about peasant agency in Haiti. Some,
like Smith, discuss the importance of local knowledge within peasant society, the success
of peasant organizations in rural Haiti, and the importance music holds as an essential
part of everyday life for rural Haitians. Smith looks at peasant agency as it relates to
atribisyon (neighborhood-based organizations that carry out collective agricultural
workforces), sosyete (civic and religious organizations), and gwoupman peyizan (local
organizations whose goal is to promote social, economic or political change). Smith
describes how “Sustainable agriculture, preventive health education, adult literacy, civic

education, income generation, human rights, democraticization, and women’s issues are

117

 

among the areas on which [gwoupman peyizan] have focused their energies” (Smith

2001, 141).

Other scholars, like physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer, examine peasant
agency as it relates to health care by addressing how peasants in small, rural communities
have come together and are using health care locally to get things done.57 Farmer
discusses the success of Proje Veye Sante (Partners in Health), a community health
program established in Do Kay (Cange), Haiti that provides care to thousands of rural
Haitians and trains community members from villages throughout the Peligre Basin
region to be health workers. Farmer began the program in Cange by traveling to different
villages in the area and asking people what they wanted to see in a health care system; the
answer fi'om most people was “a hospital” (Farmer interview with Democracy Now, May
28, 2008). By soliciting input fiom local peasants and educating those who did not
understand the importance of preventative and follow-up health care, the community
health program established in Cange has become a notable success; it served as a model
for similar programs that Farmer has developed in other countries throughout the world,

including Rwanda, Russia, Mexico, Peru and Guatamala.

Farmer’s success in helping to educate peasants about the importance of
preventative health care and other health-related issues reflects how positive change can
come about by actively engaging people within a community and allowing them to take
part in what is being done. In Farmer’s case, the results include a hospital that serves

thousands of rural peasants in Haiti’s Central Plateau. In F leurant’s case, the results

 

57 Farmer is a professor of medical anthropology at Harvard Medical School, co-founder
of Partners in Health, and associate chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health
Inequalities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

118

include a cultural center that hosts a community center and school for the people of
Mirebalais, a rural village also located in Haiti’s Central Plateau. By promoting Haitian
culture, F leurant challenges the ambivalence felt by many upper-class Haitians and

educates Haitians and non-Haitians about its value and importance in Haitian society.

Building a Future for Haiti

A humanitarian intent on helping his countrymen, F leurant finds himself as busy
as ever in his retirement. Fleurant and his wife, Florienne Saintil, worked tirelessly for
years, raising funds and founding the Gawou Ginou Foundation to benefit their cause.
Their goal was to create a cultmal center that would first focus on teaching traditional
Haitian music to students, then develop a brass band for students, and eventually a band
and orchestra with other instruments that can play art music by Haitian as well as
Western composers.58 They also wanted to teach the children in their village about basic
hygiene and health care, and give them an education that included reading, writing, and
arithmetic, language and the arts. In addition, they wanted to develop a teacher training
program that would increase the knowledge and teaching ability of Haiti’s teachers

themselves.
The Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscofl Cultural Center

To fulfill their goals of educating others and preserving Haitian culture, Fleurant
and Saintil established the Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center (C-
CLAK), in Mirebalais, Haiti a multi-purpose institution devoted to socio-cultural

development in the Central Plateau region. Built with their own funds beginning in 1996,

 

5“ Brass bands are popular in Haiti and often play for funerals and other processions.

119

C-CLAK has had a positive impact that has benefited the community of Mirebalais; it
provides community members with a community center and another place for children to
attend school. It also raises awareness of Haiti and the issues the country faces by
serving as host to scholars and educators from throughout Haiti and abroad. Saintil’s
family is fi'om Mirebalais, so C-CLAK was built on about two caros (equivalent to
approximately seven acres) of family—owned land. The cultural center building consists
of fourteen bedrooms, three large meeting rooms, a stage, apartment for F leurant and his
family, a guest apartment, and a cybercafe/library.59 The preschool is also held in this
building. The center is a venue for community access; meetings, workshops, seminars,
weddings, and other events are held there.60 They have an adult brass band that holds its

rehearsals there and a dance troupe is in residence.

Modeling his work after that done by Marcus Garvey and Booker T. Washington,
F leurant’s concept of Humanocentrism places the person at the center of the discourse,
and brings together the best elements of Afrocentricity—a world view that emphasizes
the importance of Afiican people in culture, philosophy and history, and Eurocentricity—
the practice of viewing the world from a European perspective, with an implied belief of

the preeminence of European (Western) culture. While Fleurant credits himself with

 

59 The former computer center is now a cybercafi, with internet access and CNN. A
young group of Haitians were able to obtain a grant to start up a cybercafi, and Fleurant
and his wife offered the center as a location. The young people take care of the upkeep,
and more people are visiting the center to use this service.

60 In a recent conversation with Saintil, she told me that a local group of Jehovah
Witnesses is using the center as a meeting place until their building is completed. I asked
how they felt about Vodou, considering the center was an institution that preserved and
promoted traditional culture. Saintil laughed and said that is the first thing everyone asks
her when they hear about the group meeting there. She said that they understand that the
center is full of “cultural people”, and that the people who would have a problem do so
because of ignorance (personal communication with author, November 16, 2008).

120

coining Humanocentrism, Anthropocentrism——a related term—is often used

interchangeably with Humanocentrism and has existed for some time.61

In a presentation given by Fleurant at the 2008 Haitian Studies Association
meeting, F leurant eloquently summarized his philosophy in how one can be successful in
projects like his in Haiti. Calling it his concept of preservation, Fleurant stated, “To
preserve the culture, you have to preserve the people; to preserve the people, you have to
preserve the environment; to preserve the environment, you have to educate the people;
to educate the people, you have to educate yourself” (HSA meeting November 7, 2008).62
This emphasis on education is a recurring theme, both in F leurant’s work and in the work

of many other Haitians attempting to make a positive difference in Haiti.

In his presentation, Fleurant noted how a great number of people in Haiti’s
illiterate class are pushing away from their roots because of the teaching of missionaries
against traditional Haitian religion and culture. Establishing a center that preserves
traditional Haitian culture and focuses on its strengths is one way to counter the effect of

those who would have Haitians turn away from their heritage.

Through all of the difficult times that Haitians have had to endure, Fleurant refers
to the people of Mirebalais as their “first line of defense” against rebels, thieves, or others

who would do them harm. He believes by generating accessibility, trust and affection

 

6‘ Fleurant’s application of this term is relevant in that he combines what he considers to
be the best of two opposing worldviews—worldviews that can often be found at the root
of class conflicts and ambivalent feelings for some Haitians.

‘2 While F leurant values preserving the environment, he has also spoken to me about the

desire to see an upscale hotel built in Saut d’ Eau (Bonheur), the village that is the site of
the sacred pilgrimage.

121

among his community, people look at the cultural center as being their own (F leurant,
HSA paper presentation, 2008).“ This became clearly apparent in 2004, after the removal
of Aristide fi'om office by US. forces. What followed was the destruction of many
public buildings—including schools and a university in Port-au-Prince, and a police
station in Gonaives—as well as other public private facilities throughout Haiti

(Alexander, 2004).

At a meeting in Mirebalais, the question of possibly tearing down and destroying
the cultural center was raised by outsiders."4 There was a large outcry fiom the people in
Mirebalais who insisted that no one harm the center, that it belonged to them—to the
community (F leurant, HSA paper presentation, 2008). Because of the sense of ownership
and pride that people feel about the center, F leurant can be away fi-om Haiti for half the
year and the center continues to function in his absence. By putting the emphasis on
Haitian role models there, people learn fiom each other and continue to get work done,

even without him present to supervise.

Interestingly, as much as Flemant’s community accepts the cultural center for its
benefits, there are some in his community who demonstrate ambivalent feelings due to its
association with traditional music. There is a fairly large Protestant following in

Mirebalais. One can hear preaching fi-om a loudspeaker from the open “church” located

 

”3 Fleurant instills this sense of ownership among members of his community by how he
interacts with them. People in Mirebalais call Fleurant “Papi Toto”, a sign of affection
and familiarity. If a visitor comes to town and asks for GerrB F leurant or Dr. Fleurant,
they may have difficulty finding people who recognize the name; yet, if someone is
looking for Papi Toto, almost everyone knows where to find him.

64 The Haitian Creole term for uprooting something is deshoukay (also spelled
deshoukaj). To deshoukay the center would have meant tearing it down and destroying
everthing in it.

122

near the center late into the evening. As noted earlier in this chapter, Protestants are not
accepting of Vodou, and are often suspicious of what is taking place at the center. At the
2009 KOSANBA conference, a representative of the Haitian government commented on
this when he stopped by to address the attendees, telling us how happy he was to have the
conference hosted here. He mentioned (with a smile) that while some of the community
members thought something Satanic was taking place here (since the conference was
about Haitian Vodou), perhaps some “might come to think of it as a great liberation to

happen to Mirebalais” (KOSANBA colloquium, July 15, 2009).

When traditional drumming and dance performances take place at the center, they
are usually open to the public; this was the case during the conference as well. It was
interesting to observe the reaction of the attendees fiom the community; some got
involved by singing, dancing in place, or showing their pleasure through their facial
expressions. Others remained solemn, unsmiling and said nothing. Still others hung
back behind the gates and did not enter the enclosed viewing area; it was obvious that
they were curious as to what was taking place, but they did not want to appear outwardly

interested.

F leurant notes how the center is a model of decentralization, and how those
affiliated with it teach by example; “you don’t make things comfortable for just yourself,
you make them comfortable for everyone” (F leurant 2008). This includes building water
closets (bathrooms) at the center for people to use, and teaching them to use them, then

teaching others in the community to convert their latrines to water closets.

123

Part of the cultural center, the Gawou Ginou School, began in 2000 with eight
children. As of the fall of 2008, there were one hundred and seventy-five children in the
seventh grade. The school is nondenominational, does not use corporal punishment, and
places emphasis on positive self-concepts. It welcomes families into the school as well
as the children, and encourages families not to use corporal prmishment at home; once
again, teaching by example. They also began a canteen program at the school where the PM.
children receive a free meal; something that makes a huge difference to people in a poor,

rural community like Mirebalais.

Recently, Fleurant and Saintil have entered into conversations with instructors

 

and administrators at Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince to see if they can begin a
satellite program at the cultural center in Mirebalais on weekends. Currently, one of the
instructors at the Gawou Ginou School travels to Port-au-Prince to take education classes
at the university each week. With the high cost of gas in Haiti, he is spending two
hundred dollars each month (out of his eight hundred dollar salary) for transportation. If
C-CLAK becomes a satellite campus for the university, it will provide many students
throughout the Central Plateau region with access to college classes; something they

would not have otherwise.

The goal of F leurant and Saintil extends beyond educating Haitians in Mirebalais;
it includes educating people in the United States about Haiti, about the needs of people in
rural and impoverished communities. Saintil, now teaching in the Florida school system,
brought two of her colleagues to Mirebalais on a trip to the center in 2008. The visiting
teachers were impressed at how well-dressed all of the students were at the Gawou Ginou

School; in their eyes, the students did not look much different than students in the United

124

 

States. Saintil reminded them that looking nice did not mean that they students were not
himeg (personal communication with author, November 16, 2008). She then took the
teachers to three local houses where some of the students lived; the teachers were
shocked to witness the level of poverty in which the students lived. It was a sobering
realization for them to see what people in rural Haiti endured, and to learn that there are
many Haitians in more remote areas—and urban areas as well—that are much worse off
than the people in Mirebalais. By introducing others outside of Haiti to the cultural
center, F leurant and Saintil hope that things will change for the better and that people will

help them to make a difference, one step at a time.

Since my first trip to Mirebalais in 2003, I try to return to Haiti and visit
Mirebalais at least once every year. On each visit to the cultural center, I am amazed at
the progress that has taken place. Year after year, Fleurant, his wife, and their small
teaching staff are able to reach more and more children and teachers as they continue to
add on to the school. Their former living quarters on the bottom floor of the center have
been made into a library/computer room, and they are hoping to eventually build a
vocational school on the property in the future. There are now three hotels in Mirebalais,
one of which is a three star hotel, along with a computer school. In 2007, Mirebalais had
its first Kwanzaa celebration at the cultural center. To Fleurant’s knowledge, this was the
first celebration of its kind in Haiti. F leurant plans on making this an annual tradition.
Additionally, in July 2009 the KOSANBA conference will be held at the cultural center

for the first time.

F leurant’s success with the Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center in

Mirebalais serves as a model for other institutions in Haiti intent on preserving Haitian

125

culture. It also stands as an example of how to educate people in rural Haiti about health
care and hygiene, in addition to math, science, language and the arts. C-CLAK illustrates
how a project can grow, survive and thrive in Haiti’s sometimes unstable atmosphere if
one moves slowly, quietly, taking one step at a time, involving others while educating

them and setting an example as a positive role model.

While few people have the opportunity to actively participate in the construction
of facilities like Farmer and F leurant were able to do, there are others ways in which

people can and do raise awareness of issues in Haiti and promote the importance of it

 

traditional culture. Music is one vehicle through which this can be accomplished. j '

The conclusion of this thesis once again emphasizes how music can be utilized to
educate others about Haitian indigenous culture in order to challenge the ambivalent
feelings felt by many Haitians and non-Haitians towards Vodou. Examining ambivalence
towards Vodou in Haitian society enables us to better understand the relationship
between Haiti’s social classes, the issues surrounding Haiti’s educational system, and the
challenges Haitians face at home and throughout the Haitian diaspora. By confronting
these issues, Haitian and non-Haitian composers, educators, and professionals in other

fields are finding ways to break the chains that hold back progress.

126

Conclusion

“Vodou means many things. It means dancing, singing, rituals for the living and for the dead, drums; it
means an attitude toward life and death, a concept of ancestors and the afterworld, and an understanding of
the forces which control man and his activities; it has subtle meanings beyond the understanding of
anthropological observers; it is, in short, something which is infused into the very essence of living.”

uHarold Courlander (quoted in Williams Yarborough 1959, 7)

“Vodoun is clearly more than the ritual of the cult temple. It is an integrated system of concepts
concerning human behavior, the relation of mankind to those who have lived before, and to the natural and
supernatural forces of the universe. It relates the living to the dead and to those not yet born. It “explains”
unpredictable events by showing them to be consistent with established principles. In short, it is a true
religion which attempts to tie the unknown to the known and thus create an order where chaos existed
before.”

-Harold Courlander (quoted in Galembo 1998, xvi)

Throughout the twentieth-century and today, one can find Haitians and non-
Haitians challenging and fighting ambivalence in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora.
Examining ambivalence in Haitian society enables us to better understand the
relationship between Haiti’s social classes and educational system, and the challenges
confronting Haitians today. I argue that the key in overcoming ambivalent attitudes——
especially those directed towards Vodou——is education. Only through education can the

stereotypes and misconceptions leading to conflicting feelings be cast aside.

Teaching people about the value and significance of indigenous cultme in Haitian
society, raising awareness about issues pertaining to Haiti, and working to dispel myths
and stereotypes associated with Haitian Vodou are ways in which to address
ambivalence. One way to accomplish these goals is through an accurate musical
representation of Haitian cultme. Musicians hold a grave responsibility representing
Haitian music and culture accurately through composition and performance, more so

because of the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding Haitian culture and

127

 

religion. Even with all of the challenges that Haiti faces, one can still feel the sense of
hope and perseverance that Haitians—especially those in rural Haiti—continue to hold
onto, and the pride they take in their culture and their country. As mentioned earlier in
this thesis, according to Julio Racine, “Haitian peasants are not thinking about the culture,
they are the culture.”1 Racine’s view underscores the idea that the inclusion of Haitian

peasant perspectives in the construction of a Haitian culture is an important idea.

Haitians share a dual identity—that of their French and African ancestors. As the
peasantry is closely connected to its African heritage, Racine’s sentiment also emphasizes
the significance of African ancestry and identity in Haitian culture, alongside French
culture and identity. While most Haitians usually identify with one or the other,
depending upon their social class, both African and French heritage play a large role in

Haiti’s national culture and in Haitians’ national identity.

As mentioned in the introduction of this thesis, Haitians in the diaspora are
perhaps the group most affected by the stereotypical depictions of their country and
culture through Hollywood and the foreign media. Educating non-Haitians about the
value and significance of indigenous culture in Haitian society and debunking the
misconceptions surrounding Vodou is one way in which to deal with ambivalence.
Providing alternative worldviews on Vodou to those presented through Hollywood and
the media is another. This thesis illustrates how there are Haitians and non-Haitians
working to break down barriers between social classes and solve the problems affecting
Haiti’s educational system, many which stem from or are a cause of conflict among

Haitians. While only time will tell if these efforts prove to be fruitful, the work of

 

1 Personal communication with author October 24, 2008.

128

J aegerhuber, Racine, Fleurant, and others in Haiti and abroad demonstrate that progress

can be made and attitudes can be changed if taken slowly, one step at a time.

129

. .‘ u'- all“ I

 

APPENDIX A

130

The Educational Contributions of Werner A. J aegerhuber and Other Twentieth-
Century Haitian Composers
CONSENT FORM

You are being asked to participate in a research study on Haitian composers. You have been selected as a
possible participant in this research study because you are Haitian, or you have knowledge about Haitian
composers and Haitian music. From this study, the researcher hopes to write a thesis on the educational
contributions of Haitian composers, and how Haitian classical music can be used to teach people about
Haitian religion and culture. Your participation in this study will take approximately 60 to 90 minutes for a
recorded interview. You will be provided access to all findings of this research.

You will not benefit directly from your participation in this study. However, your participation in this
study may contribute to the understanding of the unique contributions Haitians have made to life in
Michigan. There are no foreseeable risks associated with participation in this study.

Your participation in this study is strictly voluntary; you may choose not to participate at all or terminate
your participation at any time without penalty. You may also refuse to answer any questions and still
participate in the interview. If you choose to withdraw from the study, the audiotape containing your
interview, as well as any transcripts and notes that have been made, will be destroyed. If you withdraw
from the study, information gathered from my conversation with you will not be used in my research. Only
individuals 18 years old and older may participate in this study.

All answers and personal information will be kept confidential. If it is necessary or appropriate to use
individual answers in the frnal product of this research, unless you indicate otherwise, your name will be
changed and/or omitted. The data will be kept in a locked file cabinet in the researcher’s office; only the
researcher will have access to the data. The results of this study may be published or presented at
professional meetings, but the identities of all research participants will remain anonymous. Since the
nature of this study involves the collection of data from a specific and distinct group of subjects, you may
face the risk of not being completely unidentifiable. Your privacy will be protected to the maximum
extent allowable by law. You will be told of any significant findings that develop during the course of the
study that may influence-your willingness to continue to participate in the research. You will not receive
money or airy other form of compensation for participating in this study.

If you have any questions about this study, you may contact the researcher, Dr. Mary Procopio, by phone:
517 651 2011; email: procopil@msu.edu; or post: 5004 Shaftsburg Rd Laingsburg, MI 48848.

If you have any questions about your role and rights as a research participant, or would like to register a
complaint about this study, you may contact, anonymously if you wish, Michigan State University Human
Research Protection Program at 517-355-2180, FAX 517-432-4503, or e-mail irb@msu.edu, or regular
mail at: 202 Olds Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.

 

Your signature below means that you voluntarily agree to participate in this research study.

 

 

research participant/interviewee signature researcher/interviewer signature

 

 

printed name date

I agree to allow my identity to be disclosed in reports and presentations.
D Yes C] No Initials

 

I agree to allow audiotapin videotaping of the interview.
Yes D No Initials

 

You will be given a copy of this form to keep

131

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132

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