Overview:
This lighthearted explainer addresses two of essentially the most generally misspelled phrases in protection of Haitian tradition: Vodou and konpa. Drawing on The Haitian Instances’ reporting, the piece additionally explains why right spelling issues and the way misnaming distorts that means.
NEW YORK — Let’s get this out of the way in which first: We Haitians may be extremely affected person and cool-headed. To outlive centuries of misrepresentation, prejudices, mistranslation and misunderstanding, we’ve needed to be. However there are two small issues that persistently make these of us fluent in our mom tongue pause mid-scroll, mid-read or mid-headline — and roll our eyes.
They’re spelled Vodou and konpa.
Not Voodoo.
Not Voudou.
Not Vaudou.
Not Vodoun.
Not compas.
Not compa.
Not kompa.
Not konpas.
For those who promote or cowl Haiti, Haitian tradition or the Haitian diaspora — even often work in these realms — that is your pleasant public service announcement to do proper by our language: Haitian Creole.
Let’s begin with V-O-D-O-U
Vodou is Haiti’s ancestral non secular custom, developed by enslaved Africans and formed by a combination of African religions and Catholicism. It’s a lived faith, a world view, and a cultural system—not a horror-movie trope, not spooky shorthand and undoubtedly not a synonym for superstition or satan cult.
As The Haitian Instances has reported repeatedly over time, Vodou is deeply woven into on a regular basis Haitian life — current in artwork, music, therapeutic practices, political historical past and communal rituals each in Haiti and throughout the diaspora. Its practitioners embody on a regular basis folks, students, artists and activists — not caricatures.
The spelling “Voodoo” is an American English invention popularized by Hollywood, pulp fiction and sensationalist journalism. It flattens a posh perception system into an unique, generally menacing cultish projection. The spelling Vodou, against this, displays the roots of the custom and is the suitable Haitian Creole kind utilized by practitioners, students and the retailers that take Haitian tradition critically.
For those who’re writing about Haiti with respect — and we’ll assume you’re — Vodou is the spelling you need. It alerts that you simply’ve achieved a minimum of essentially the most fundamental homework and that you simply perceive the distinction between a dwelling, respiratory tradition and cliché.
Vodun may be a tempting second choice, however that spelling refers back to the faith practiced primarily in Benin. So keep on with Vodou for Haiti.
Now, let’s discuss Okay-O-N-P-A
If Vodou is usually misunderstood, konpa is usually… creatively spelled.
Brief for “konpa dirèk,” konpa is Haiti’s most business musical style. Born in 1955, it fills dance flooring from Port-au-Prince to Paris, Brooklyn to Montreal, the Caribbean to West Africa. Its easy and horny syncopation is foundational to trendy Caribbean music.
But, regardless of its 70-year historical past and its official designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Website, the style routinely seems in print as “compas,” “kompa,” “konpas,” or “compa”—generally inexplicably all throughout the similar doc.
As The Haitian Instances has documented in its protection of Haitian music, artists and festivals, konpa is the standardized Haitian Creole spelling used right this moment by Haitian musicians, DJs, historians and cultural establishments, notably the Haitian Creole Academy. Whereas older spellings like “compas” mirror Haiti’s colonial-rooted preferences for French as its official language till Kreyòl was later acknowledged, konpa displays how Haitians title and declare our music now. So, older folks might have a cross for sticking to the French “compas,” however everybody else ought to actually adapt.
Be aware additionally the way it’s spelled in lowercase except firstly of a sentence, identical to you’d deal with some other genres — blues, rock, hip hop, nation — in writing.
Why this really issues
For those who’re selling a live performance, interviewing an artist or contextualizing Caribbean music historical past, spelling it Konpa tells your viewers — and your Haitian readers — that you simply’re tuned in. Actually, actually listening.
Language is just not random or meaningless; it holds energy. Spelling selections sign whose data counts and whose voice leads the narrative. Utilizing Vodou and konpa isn’t about being pretentious or pedantic — it’s about accuracy, respect and cultural literacy — ideas that accountable storytellers try to uphold.
So contemplate this a mild nudge, not a scolding. Spellcheck might protest. Autocomplete might struggle again. Google Translate or Gemini may recommend options. However now you recognize.
Vodou. Konpa.
Your future Haitian tradition keepers — and undoubtedly the editors—will thanks.
P.S. — Subsequent time, we’ll take a look at Creole versus Haitian versus Haitian Creole once we’re speaking about Kréyòl.