Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands

About this book

In B tes Noires, Lauren Derby explores storytelling traditions among the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, focusing on shape-shifting spirit demons called baka/bac . Drawing on interviews with and life stories of residents in a central Haitian-Dominican frontier town, Derby contends that bac s--hot spirits from the sorcery side of vodou/vod that present as animals and generate wealth for their owners--are a manifestation of what Dominicans call fuk de Col n, the curse of Columbus. The dogs, pigs, cattle, and horses that Columbus brought with him are the only types of animals that bac's become. As instruments of Indigenous dispossession, these animals and their spirit demons convey a history of trauma and racialization in Dominican popular culture. In the context of slavery and beyond, bac's keep alive the promise of freedom, since shape-shifting has long enabled fugitivity. As Derby demonstrates, bac's represent a complex history of race, religion, repression, and resistance.

Details

Format

Hardcover

ISBN-13

9781478029359

Publisher

Duke University Press

Published

November 18, 2025

Pages

356

Weight

22.9 oz

Subject

Social Science