ABSTRACT According to sources from the Haitian consulate in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba, there are approximately 800,000 to 1.2 million self-identified HIDs (Haitian immigrants and their descendants) living in each of these nations. HID is an acronym that I employ to highlight the invisibility of Haitian immigrants and their descendants in American societies and cultures. This research is primarily concerned with the effects of migrations from Ayiti (mountainous land) to Cuba (land or great land) and the Dominican Republic, also known as Kiskeya (the cradle of life). The historical impact of Haitian migrations both before and after the U.S. occupations in Cuba and the Dominican Republic is central to this research. HIDs in the Dominican Republic and Cuba had been marginalized by their own governments, and during the period when the United States occupied these Caribbean nations along with Haiti during the early 20th century, a brand of Wilsonian Southern racism, such as that represented in the film "The Birth of a Nation," was layered on the traditional Spanish, French, and English style racisms that were already prevalent prior to the twentieth century. I will argue that HIDs maintained their culture in the diaspora, mainly because of their spiritual rituals, religious services, and related activities, which most of the times involved Kreyols speaking, chanting, and singing during holy days, and music and dance during festivals and holidays, while facing ethnic discrimination in some of their communities. Although my main sourceis my reflexivelyfiltered fieldwork experiences, I will engage Scott's concept of hidden and public transcripts, Bhaktin's thought on dialogism, and Althusser's idea of ideological apparatuses in unpacking HID's cultural expressions and associated responses. Furthermore, because who we are as different ethnic groups are interwoven in our cultural fabrics, maintaining one's cultural identity is a human rights issue. Cultural traditions not practiced by any diaspora are doomed to obsolescence, and mark the onset of cultural genocide. A research participant expressing his sentiments on the importance of keeping one's beliefs explained that to not employ one's traditions in the service of one's ancestral spirits is to obliterate vital aspects of one's existence, which I surmised was essentially ethnospiritual as well as cultural genocide. / A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / April 29, 2013. / Creole, Cuban, Dominican, Haitian, Migration, Taino / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Uzendoski, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jose Gomariz, University Representative; Frank Gunderson, Committee Member; David Johnson, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253385 |
| Contributors | Pereira, Emmanuel (authoraut), Uzendoski, Michael (professor directing dissertation), Gomariz, Jose (university representative), Gunderson, Frank (committee member), Johnson, David (committee member), Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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