Sources
The Magic Island
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The Magic Island, William Seabrook's 1929 travel book from Harcourt, Brace and Company, written during the United States occupation of Haiti, is the book that carried the word zombie into American English and set the sensationalized register in which Hollywood later presented Haitian Vodou. Its strength is that it is the primary text itself, useful for tracing exactly where and how this stereotype entered American popular culture. Its limit is that it is a sensationalized travel account by an outsider observer rather than an ethnographic or scholarly study, and should be cited as evidence about the making of the stereotype rather than as a reliable account of the religion itself.
Facts
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Reliability Tier3
Reliability tier 3: a sensationalized popular travel account by an outsider observer, useful for tracing how a stereotype entered American culture but not a reliable account of the religion itself. NotesA travel book written during the United States occupation of Haiti. It carried the word zombie into American English and set the sensational register in which Hollywood then presented the religion. Cited as evidence about the making of a stereotype.
Citation
AuthorWilliam B. Seabrook
PublisherHarcourt, Brace and Company
New York, 1929 first edition. Publication Year1929
Source TypeBook (popular history)
Claims Backed By This Source (9 claims)
This source backs 9 claims across the atlas. As facts: 8 well-attested. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
- Religious Events, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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