Istwa Across the Water - by Toni Pressley-Sanon (Paperback)

About the Book

Gathering oral stories and visual art from Haiti and two of its "motherlands" in Africa, Istwa across the Water recovers the submerged histories of the island through methods drawn from its deep spiritual and cultural traditions.

Book Synopsis

Gathering oral stories and visual art from Haiti and two of its "motherlands" in Africa, Istwa across the Water recovers the submerged histories of the island through methods drawn from its deep spiritual and cultural traditions.

Review Quotes

"Provides a powerful reminder that we cannot divorce history from the multiple and sometimes conflicting stories we tell about the past, empirically true or not, and that belief systems, like Vodou, are central to how we understand collective histories. . . . Presents insightful approaches for scholars of religious and cultural practices and the history of enslavement and colonization in and beyond Haiti."--The Americas

"Argues that, to this day, the lifeline between Africa and the diaspora (as seen in Haitian culture) is not altogether severed."--Caribbean Quarterly

About the Author

Toni Pressley-Sanon, associate professor of African and African American studies at Eastern Michigan University, is the author of The Haitian Peasantry through Oral and Written Literature: Roumain, Alexis, Endore, Carpentier, and Fountain.