Authors@UF: Benjamin Hebblethwaite

Impacting a Language: Publishing Haitian Creole in the United States
Presented by Dr. Benjamin Hebblethwaite, professor of Haitian Creole and French, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
2:00 p.m.
Latin American Collection Reference Room, 4th floor of Smathers Library (East)

Benjamin Hebblethwaite, professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, will discuss his fascinating work with the Haitian Creole language and Vodou songs, and the complex interweaving of Creole, French and English. Dr. Hebblethwaite explores language policy in Haiti, the official disregard for the common language of the population, the burden this places on the children of Haiti, and how publishing Creole texts can impact both the language and people of Haiti.

He is also the author of Vodou Songs in Haitian Creole and English. Dr. Hebblethwaite will share his perspective as a writer, linguist and researcher, and invites discussion on these various and multidisciplinary topics.

Dr. Hebblethwaite has just been awarded a major National Endowment for the Humanities grant for a collaborative project with Duke University and other national and international partners to improve understanding of the Haitian and Haitian-American spiritual tradition. The project will gather and research all relevant audiovisual and textual sources of the Vodou communities. The sources will be made freely available online through the George A. Smathers Libraries’ database: the Digital Library of the Caribbean.

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