Item Detail
-
11971
-
2
-
0
-
English
-
Between Eternal Truth and Local Culture : Performing Mormonism in Haiti
-
Claremont, CA
-
Claremont Graduate University
-
267
-
Ph.D. diss.
-
'Religious practice in Haiti is rarely just what it seems. Each spiritual mythology that enters Haiti's landscape is tainted with the aura of historical antagonism for the simple reason that religion in Haiti is not just a matter of spiritual practice. Rather, religion in Haiti, whether it is Vodou, Catholicism or one of the many strains of Protestantism, actually encodes and carries political and social dynamics that are crucial to the development and formation of a relatively autonomous cultural/national identity. As such, religion and religious practice emerge as primary identity markers for Haitian people. The religion they choose to practice, or more specifically, to perform, marks not merely a spiritual choice, but a cultural identity that places its practitioner at a particular location within larger Haitian society. It is the focus of this dissertation to shift this reality to the particular religion of Mormonism, one of the newest religions to enter Haiti. In particular, the research questions guiding this project ask, How is Mormonism performed in Haiti by both Mormon authority and individual Haitian Mormons and how do these performances inform the nature of Haitian Mormon religious/cultural identity? The method guiding this project is founded in an interdisciplinary approach grounded by both critical ethnography and performance studies. Succinctly argued, Haitian Mormons of the Petionville, Haiti ward emerge as bricoleurs who piece together their own religious and cultural identities within the larger framework of Mormonism. They do so sandwiched in the 'in-between'spaces of Mormonism's proclaimed eternal truth and Haiti's own local culture. Navigating this space becomes further problematized as Mormon authority in Haiti privileges/performs the text, thus occupying an ocularcentrist position, while the majority of Haitian Mormons perform/privilege the body, thus occupying an aural, embodied position. The implication of this realization is twofold: first, literate Haitian Mormons enjoy greater access to the theological promises of Mormonism while their non-literate counterparts remain relegated to the margins of Mormon practice, arguably enabling them with greater freedom to mold Mormonism to their needs; second, beyond the scope of this dissertation, the necessity for a multicultural approach to proselytizing becomes apparent.' (author's abstract)