Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti [Paperback]

Maya Deren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1983

Includes photographs and drawings. Foreword by Joseph Campbell This is the classic, intimate study, movingly written with the special insight of direct encounter, which was first published in 1953 by the fledgling Thames & Hudson firm in a series edited by Joseph Campbell. Maya Deren's Divine Horsemen is recognized throughout the world as a primary source book on the culture and spirituality of Haitian Voudoun. The work includes all the original photographs and illustrations, glossary, appendices and index. It includes the original Campbell foreword along with the foreword Campbell added to a later edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The result of vast fieldwork and personal research, and its findings are well and systematically drawn up at considerable length. --Times Literary Supplement

There are lessons to be learned about Voodoo the way Maya Deren makes you know about it. --Village Voice

More than thirty years have elapsed.... But her work...continues to move and inform. --Journal for the Society of Ethnomusicology

About the Author

Maya Deren's life is the subject of a multi-volume biography in progress (see: The Legend of Maya Deren). Born in Kiev in 1917, Maya Deren emigrated to the United States with her parents a few years later, grew up mainly in Syracuse, New York, and attended Syracuse University. A social activist from her teens, she became interested first in dance and subsequently in filmmaking. Throughout the 1950s, until her premature death in 1961 at the age of 44, Maya Deren was a leading exponent of experimental cinema and considered one of its most influential artists. She first traveled to Haiti to film dances in 1947, and returned in following years for lengthy stays. The work in Haiti led to the classic ethnographic study, Divine Horsemen, written with the encouragement of Joseph Campbell, as well as audio recordings and a documentary film which was later edited by Teiji and Cherel Ito.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: McPherson (October 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914232630
• ISBN-13: 978-0914232636
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Haiti
  • #58 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Tribal & Ethnic

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explores the theology & philosopy of Haitian Voodoun, September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (Paperback)

Maya Deren's "Divine Horsemen" is a poetically rendered exploration of the philosophy and practices of Haitian Voodoun. Written in the early '50's (with the support of Joseph Campbell), this book is not a "how to" practical guide. Rather it a metaphysical, religious, philosophical & anthropological study of Voodoun. As an artist, Deren brings a uniquely lyrical voice to her narrative and paints a multi-textured, infinitely complex portrait of a spiritual tradition with roots stretching back to the very dawn of humanity. In reading this book I was awed by an awareness of the sophisication and perception of the so-called "primitive" people of West Africa (from which Voodoun derives). They were only "primitive" in terms of the development of technology, certainly not in the development of the spirit. Reading this has created a profound shift in my view of the history of civilization as taught to me in school. This book is essential reading not only for anyone interested in Voodoun, but also for any student of comparative religion, mythology or spirituality.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bridge Between Art and Ethnography, March 2, 1999

By 

Moira J. Sullivan "Cineaste" (San Francisco and Stockholm) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (Paperback)

This is an excellent history of the African origins of Voudoun ( creole 'spelling' used by Deren) and its transplantation to the New World. When the subject of spirit possession comes up, Deren questions why the most impressive phenomenon of Voudoun is not seen as a direct pragmatic expression of the principles of the religion . There is a chapter on this called 'The White Darkness' which Deren cautions should not be seen as a 'personal' experience but service to the 'loa' or Voudoun deity. Nevertheless this has been misinterpreted as Deren's 'deed', which has laid ground for several unfounded myths about the filmmaker. Her participatorial observations ran against the grain of traditional orthodox male anthropologists of the time and she realized that she would be attacked for encroaching on their turf. That is why DH should be seen as an important feminist ethnography. Deren described the relationship between magic, science and religion which was at the apex of modernism. This research interrupted her film career as she was hard at work with this before she made her first film in 1943. She later returned to this as recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship for creative work in motion pictures in 1947 . Over 20,000 feet of film were shot by Deren in Haiti and remained unedited as she later came to see that it was impossible to alter the forms of the rituals of Voudoun. For that reason it is claimed that she never made a film and that her involvement in Voudoun destroyed her work as an artist which are fallacies. This book is a must to understand the complexity of this outstanding artist and ethnographer

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deren offers artist's perspective on vodou., January 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (Paperback)

I agree with all but one of the statements made by [e-mail]: Deren was not an academic at all. Rather, she went to Haiti as a filmmaker, intending to study and film ritual dance. In her preface, she discusses at length her unique vantage point as an artist rather than an anthropologist. This is part of why her book is so wonderful: it is clearly infused with an artist's--and ultimately an adherent's sensibility.