Media representations perpetuate stereotyped images of Haiti and Haitians. Such expressions typically emphasize extreme poverty, mismanagement, exploitation, hopelessness, and also environmental degradation. The environmental image of Haiti is that it is massively deforested, and the connection of deforestation to poverty and other problems has been captured in an iconic aerial photograph of the Haitian and Dominican Republic (DR) border. First appearing in National Geographic in 1987 and replicated since in various sources, the image displays a stark contrast between the tropical lushness of the DR and a desert-like Haiti, stripped of its vegetation. The stark image in effect dichotomizes a supposedly dysfunctional Haiti with a normally-functioning DR. This study analyzes the “mythologies” that are reinforced by the photo and the discourse surrounding it, which produces an accepted story of the way Haiti “is.” Going beyond such stereotypes, the study considers ways of rewriting such depictions to account for greater complexity.
Open Source Archives
We strive to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and the implementation of progressive and participatory research methods, with the goal of generating tangible, durable changes in the way research about Haiti is conceptualized, implemented and applied.
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Research Hub & Open Source Archives
EKO HAITI Research Hub is a research and knowledge mobilization platform focused on creative, collaborative and interdisciplinary research and associated research-based learning. We aim to become the intellectual “home” for research about Haiti by creating and providing open access to the largest crowdsourced research archive dedicated to Haiti, by fostering cross-disciplinary research and innovation, and by providing support for progressive research in the form of contextual expertise and training.
“The trees fall from time to time, but the voice of the forest never loses its power. Life begins.”
Jacques Alexis, Les Arbres Musiciens (Paris, 1957)
ORAL HISTORIES
Oral histories are a powerful tool in developing historical understanding
Oral history offers an alternative to conventional history, filling gaps in traditional research with personal accounts of historically significant events or simply life in a specific place and time. Oral histories do more than provide charming details to dry historical accounts. In fact, oral histories help others recapture lived experiences that are not written down in traditional sources.
> Transcripts archive
" Bwa pi wo di li wè lwen, men grenn pwomennen di li wè pi lwen pase l "
The tallest tree says that it sees far, but the seed that travels says that it sees even further.
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As an independent institute, we rely on crowdsourcing and donations to continue expanding the depth and scope of our archives. Your contribution enable us to provide open access to a vast collection of ethnographic and research material which in turn aims at fostering further research and contribute to a better understanding of the country.
