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`Edwidge Danticat is a best-selling author from Haiti who shared uplifting thoughts on her country’s recovery after the January 12 earthquake and provided insight to cultural folktales of her people. She gave a reading March 24 at the Lehr Hall in the Gordinier Building.
Danticat gave a few readings from her novels, some of which included “Brother, I’m Dying,” “The Dew Breaker,” “The Farming of Bones,” “Krik? Krak!: Stories,” and “Breath, Eyes, Memory.”
She discussed the importance of Haitian folktales and culutre iand related them to her writing. The folktale about the Angel of Death walking with God highlighted the fact that the Angel of Death will take everyone; unlike God who “plays favorites” and is selective when choosing who he takes to Heaven.
After tragedies in Danticat’s culture, the people revert to the old folktales to find comfort and solace.
Danticat said that in the earthquake, 300,000 stories vanished in a day. Oral tradition is still a large part of the Haitian culture, and many stories will go untold.
After her return to Haiti, she said that writing about the experience is something which will take time and she does not want to unleash such raw emotion after such a short period of time.
One folk tale she told was about a daughter whose father had passed away. The daughter was distraught and refused to have a wake for him. An edlerly woman tried to convince her otherwise and told the girl that their grief cannot consume them. The girl asked the woman to go to the Land of the Ancestors and bring back her father, for that will make her truly happy. The woman found the father, who gave her his false teeth to take back to his daughter, as proof, the elderly woman returned to the daughter and explained that her father has a new home and needed her to be courageous.
The daughter realized the wake needed to take place in order to celebrate life, even if her father did not receive a proper burial. This story exemplifies the Haitian people.
Danticat finished her lecture by stating, “It is not our way to let our grief silence us.”