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The study of Haitian Vodou—imagining its historical development, interpreting the poetics of its mythology, analyzing its social functions—leads, almost invariably, to the consideration of the effects of hegemony. The symbolic representations and actual manifestations of local and global power have continually impacted Vodou. The aesthetics and ritual implications of Vodou flags (drapo Vodou) in many ways encapsulate the social and political history of Haiti; a past marked by displacement, fragmentation, simulation, and hybridization. This dissertation is presented as a focused study of drapo Vodou in which I examine how the flags embody or signify the adaptive merging of African and European cultural behaviors. In my analysis, I concentrate on evolution and iconography of drapo Vodou and the stylized ways that banners are paraded during ceremonies. These foci offer perhaps the most direct means of getting at the full historical, social, and theological implications of the flags. My central thesis is that, in both form and function, drapo Vodou are patterned after the banners used by the institutional centers of power (e.g. the military and the church) that have dominated Haitian society since the colonial period. I argue that the national and regimental standards carried by colonial and post-colonial military forces, the processional banners employed by Catholic religious orders, and the ensigns used by Masonic lodges have all served, to varying degrees, as models for drapo Vodou. Each of these root traditions, it can be argued, is patently European in origin. Nonetheless, as used in Vodou rites, ceremonial flags play a crucial role in the continued recognition and worship of African or African-inspired deities (lwa ) within Haiti. For this reason, I believe that the study of drapo provides a unique opportunity to delve into the processes by which Vodou practitioners (Vodouists) have transformed European material representations of power (both mundane and otherworldly) into symbolic manifestations of the lwa. The hypotheses regarding the evolution, iconography, and ritual significance of drapo Vodou presented in this dissertation are based on data generated from library and museum research in the United States and fieldwork in Haiti.
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Depuis toujours, les sociétés humaines se déterminent et s’identifient au moyen de symboles. Les drapeaux sont aujourd’hui la forme la plus visible de cette identification. Les couleurs, les dessins qu’ils comportent nous apportent une lecture précieuse susceptible de nous éclairer sur le passé, le présent et le devenir des peuples. Les drapeaux nous offrent en même temps un précieux auxiliaire permettant de comprendre la direction de l’actualité mondiale. La fin de l’URSS en 1991 et la multiplication des drapeaux sur son territoire nous donne une parfaite illustration de cette perpétuelle quête humaine, à savoir son besoin de s’identifier et la justification de sa raison d'exister ici-bas. La preuve nous est en même temps donnée du caractère indispensable de la vexillologie dans la compréhension des sciences humaines. Human societies have always defined and identified themselves through symbols. Today, flags represent the most visible form of this identification. The colors and designs they feature offer valuable insights into the past, present, and future of peoples. At the same time, flags serve as a valuable tool for understanding the direction of global events. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the proliferation of flags across its former territory provide a perfect illustration of this perpetual human quest—namely, the need for identity and the justification of one's reason for existence. This also demonstrates the indispensable role of vexillology in understanding the human sciences.
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The central themes of this thesis are to highlight the importance of national symbols and ceremonies in the formation of nations and national identities, and examine how they contribute to the expressions of nationhood. The research has been conducted by means of a systematic investigation of national symbols and ceremonies, analysed as an integral part of identity-making, maintenance and change. The focus is on the contemporary European nations, and conclusions have been drawn with regard to their symbolism and ceremonies. The overall study has been complemented by three case studies; of Britain, France, Norway, with Germany as an analytical counter-case. Throughout this thesis evidence will be provided to the effect that national symbols and ceremonies express deeper aspects and meanings of the nation, and function as integrative and/or divisive forces. Moreover, national symbols and ceremonies form a central part of a `secular' religion which provides anchorage in a dynamic world. National symbols and ceremonies also have an effect upon the community they represent; that is, they raise collective consciousness of `who we are' and `where we are from'. Finally, it has been argued that nations cannot be dated in a precise manner since they come into being by stages, marked by the adoption of national symbols, such as the national flag and the national day. These stages have been linked to three main symbolic regimes (termed `old', `modem' and `new') and understood as a function of national independence and continuity, the implication being that the whole process of nation building forms a complex that is constituted along a continuum of re-discovery and invention.
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- anciennes républiques soviétiques (1)
- Asie centrale (1)
- Baltic Republics (1)
- Caucase (1)
- Caucasus (1)
- Central Asia (1)
- ceremonies (1)
- civil religion (1)
- cultural anthropology (1)
- drapeaux (1)
- drapo Vodou (1)
- emblèmes (1)
- emblems (1)
- ethnic groups (1)
- ethnicities (1)
- ethnies (1)
- études sur les drapeaux (1)
- Europe (1)
- flag display (1)
- flag histories (1)
- flag history (2)
- flag studies (1)
- flag use (1)
- flags (1)
- flags and religion (1)
- flags as art (1)
- flags in religion (1)
- folklore (1)
- former Soviet republics (1)
- France (1)
- Germany (1)
- Great Britain (1)
- groupes ethniques (1)
- Haiti (1)
- Haitian Vodou (1)
- historique des drapeaux (1)
- identité nationale (1)
- Lwa (1)
- national anthems (1)
- national days (1)
- national flags (1)
- national identity (1)
- national identiy (1)
- national monuments (1)
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- nationalités (1)
- nationalities (1)
- nationhood (1)
- Norway (1)
- political symbolism (1)
- political symbols (1)
- religious ceremonies (1)
- religious flags (1)
- religious rites (1)
- religious use of flags (1)
- Républiques baltes (1)
- rituals (1)
- Russia (1)
- Russie (1)
- symboles (1)
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- symbols (1)
- Ukraine (1)
- Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques (URSS) (1)
- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (1)
- United Kingdom (1)
- vexillology (1)
- Vodou flags (1)