Mama Lola Discussion, chapters 1-6

  1. How did McCarthy Brown conduct her research? Why do people call this a “postmodern” ethnography?

 

  1. How is  the book organized? Why did she make these decisions?

 

  1. Alourdes: how did they meet?  How would you describe Alourdes religious life?  Her relationship with the spirit world?

 

  1. What does it mean to be priestess/manbo in this tradition? What does it mean to serve the spirits? 

 

  1. What types of kin relations are important ? Who was Joseph Binbin Mauvant?  Why is he special?  Marie Noelsine?  Philomise?

 

  1. When did she start serving the spirits?  With which spirits does she interact?  Why?
    1. Azaka:  what happens at the birthday party?
    2. Ogou:  what does it mean to marry a spirit? Why did Karen marry Ogou? How do Alourdes and Maggie differently handle crises?
    3. Kouzinn: who is she? Who are the Madan Sara? What was the point of their trip to Haiti to Gros Marne and Jean Rabel?
      1. What difficulties did they face? Poverty and Reciprocity?  Feeding the poor?

 

  1. What is the relationship between Catholicism and Vodou?  For Alourdes? Whqt about other traditions? (e.g. Mister Bones, Krishna , Kali?)

 

 

 

Mama Lola Discussion, chapters 7-12

 

  1. Who is Ezili? Lasyrenn?  Ezili Danto?  Ezili Freda? What are their characteristics, and how do they function in Haitian women’s lives?  How are they “mirrors and maps” for women?
  2. Why are women’s roles more prominent in Vodou than in other religions?
  3. What is Vodou’s “contextual morality”?  What does this mean?  Examples?
  4. Who is Danbala?  What sort of spirit is he, and what role does he play in lives of Alourdes and her family?
  5. Compare and contrast the role of Vodou in Maggie’s life and Alourdes’ life.
  6. Who is Gede?  Why do you think the final chapter focused on this spirit? 
  7. In general, how does healing work in Vodou?  What happened in the trip to Jamaica with Cecile? 
  8. What is luck?  How is it maintained?
  9. What does it mean to “be initiated”?  Why would someone do this?
  10. Why is Gede so important for Haitians in New York ?
  11. In general, what does this book contribute to the anthropology of religion? 
  12. Why is this a “postmodern” ethnography? What does that mean?
  13. What are the strengths of the ethnography? Weaknesses?