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Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands book cover by Lauren Derby
Hardcover

Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands

by Lauren Derby

From $94.76 / copy at 25+ copies; lower per-copy prices at higher quantities (see Volume pricing) As low as $83.97 at 1,000+

Total $2,369.00

Hardcover · 356 pages Duke University Press · 2025

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Hardcover
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About the book

Bêtes Noires

In Bêtes Noires, Lauren Derby explores storytelling traditions among the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, focusing on shape-shifting spirit demons called baka/bacá. Drawing on interviews with and life stories of residents in a central Haitian-Dominican frontier town, Derby contends that bacás—hot spirits from the sorcery side of vodou/vodú that present as animals and generate wealth for their owners—are a manifestation of what Dominicans call fukú de Colón, the curse of Columbus. The dogs, pigs, cattle, and horses that Columbus brought with him are the only types of animals that bacás become. As instruments of Indigenous dispossession, these animals and their spirit demons convey a history of trauma and racialization in Dominican popular culture. In the context of slavery and beyond, bacás keep alive the promise of freedom, since shape-shifting has long enabled fugitivity. As Derby demonstrates, bacás represent a complex history of race, religion, repression, and resistance.

Details

Publisher
Duke University Press
Author
Lauren Derby
Format
Hardcover
Published
Nov 18, 2025
ISBN-13
9781478029359
ISBN-10
1478029358
Pages
356
Carton quantity
18 copies
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Bêtes Noires for groups: pricing

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CopiesPrice per copyYou save
25 – 99 $94.76 21% off list
100 – 249 $91.16 24% off list
250 – 499 $89.96 25% off list
500 – 999 $86.36 28% off list
1,000+ $83.97 30% off list
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Volume pricing applies automatically in your cart, with no code needed. Price per copy: 25 to 99 copies, $94.76 (21% off list); 100 to 249 copies, $91.16 (24% off list); 250 to 499 copies, $89.96 (25% off list); 500 to 999 copies, $86.36 (28% off list); 1,000+ copies, $83.97 (30% off list). Need a different quantity, or a quote to forward for approval? Ask a specialist and we will confirm pricing before you pay.

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