CARAF books

A novel on the exploitation of the poor in the Caribbean. The hero is a Haitian peasant who becomes politicized while in jail. Forced to work as a sugar-cane cutter in the Dominican Republic, he participates in a strike which ends in a massacre.

Offered here for the first time in English is I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, by Guadeloupean writer Maryse Conde. This wild and entertaining novel, winner of the 1986 Grand Prix Litteraire de la Femme, expands on the true story of the West Indian slave Tituba, who was accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, arrested in 1692, and forgotten in jail until the general amnesty for witches two years later. Maryse Conde brings Tituba out of historical silence and. Creates for her a fictional childhood, adolescence, and old age. She turns her into what she calls "a sort of female hero, an epic heroine, like the legendary 'Nanny of the maroons, "' who, schooled in the sorcery and magical ritual of obeah, is arrested for healing members of the family that owns her. Rich with postmodern irony, the novel even includes an encounter with Hester Prawn of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Conde breaks new ground in both style and content. Transcending cultural and epochal boundaries, not only exposing the hypocrisy of Puritan New England but challenging us to look at racism and religious bigotry in contemporary America. This highly readable and ultimately joyful novel celebrates Tituba's unique voice, exploring issues of identity and the implications of Otherness in Western literary tradition. Its multiple layers will delight a wide variety of readers.

"In his third novel, Jacques Stephen Alexis brings his characteristically vivid scenes, political consciousness, and powerful characters to the dramatic age-old question of whether a prostitute can leave "the life" to find her own identity and true love. La Nina Estrellita is pursuing her trade against the colorful backdrop of Holy Week 1948 in Port-au-Prince. Amid the rowdy street festivals and pious celebrations of the liturgical season, she notices a fellow Cuban exile, El Caucho, ship mechanic and union organizer, hanging around the Sensation Bar, and she begins to explore her attraction to him.". "Alexis offers a highly sympathetic look into the daily lives and tribulations of the Haitian people through the eyes of La Nina and the humane, searching worker El Caucho. The racism of the U.S. military, the selfish and profit-oriented machinations of Haitian politicians, the oppression of workers by the Cuban dictator Batista, the exploitation of women, and the particularly noteworthy links between Haiti and Cuba all form the figurative backdrop for a novel driven by unforgettable characters."--BOOK JACKET.

"Carrol F. Coates's translation, Waiting for the Vote of the Wild Animals, introduces English-language audiences to Kourouma's irreverent view of the machinations of the African dictators who played the West against the East during the thirty years of the cold war. Profiting from Western financial support, the dictators built palaces, shrines, and hunting preserves for their personal gratifiction as they paraded about with numerous mistreses, marabouts and advisors.". "In the style of a sere who sings the praises of the thirty-year career of the master hunter and president Koyaga (a fictionalized Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo), Kourouma treats his readers to a brief overview of the French colonization of the "Naked people," hunters in West African mountain country, followed by an account of Koyaga's assumption of power through treachery, assassination, and sorcery. In an interview Kourmouma noted the Togolese assumption that if the people did not turn out to vote for Eyadema in the democratic elections following the cold war, the wild animals would come out of the forest to vote for him. The novel ends with an apocalyptic stampede, although the animals are probably fleeing a bush conflagration rather than running to the polls."--BOOK JACKET.

"Although the past two decades have seen a wide recognition of the notable fiction written in French by African women, little attention has been given to their equally significant poetry. A Rain of Words is the first comprehensive attempt to survey the poetic production of these women, collecting work by forty-seven poets from a dozen francophone African countries. Some are established writers; others are only beginning to publish their work. Almost none of the poems here have been published outside of Africa or Europe or been previously translated into English. The poems are accompanied by brief biographies of the poets, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography. Supplementing these are a critical introductory essay by Irene Assiba d'Almeida that places women's poetry in the context of recent African history, characterizes its thematic and aesthetic features, and traces the process by which the anthology was compiled and edited, and an essay by Janis A. Mayes discussing language politics, the cultural contexts within which the poetry emerges, and literary translation strategies." "This landmark bilingual collection - the result of ten years of research, collection, editing, and translation - offers readers of English and French entry into a flourishing and essential genre of contemporary African literature."--Jacket.