Monday, February 25, 2013

Books about Madagascar


Here's a smattering of books about Madagascar that I lifted from the State Department website.





 Attenborough, David, Zoo Quest to Madagascar, Lutterworth Press, London, 1961.

Astuti, Rita,People of the Sea: Identity and Descent among the Vezo of Madagascar (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003.

Bloch, Maurice, Placing the Dead: Tombs, Ancestral Villages, and Kinship Organization in Madagascar, Seminar Press, New York, 1971.

Bourgeacq, Jacques, and Liliane Ramarosoa, Voices from Madagascar: An Anthology of Contemporary Francophone Literature, Ohio University Press, Athens, 2002.

Bradt, Hilary, Madagascar The Bradt Travel Guide - 7th ed., Globe Pequot Press, 2002.

Brown, Mervyn, A History of Madagascar, Marcus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, 2000.

Cole, Jennifer, Forget Colonialism? Sacrifice and the Art of Memory in Madagascar, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2001.

Dahl, Oyvind and Yvind Dahl, Meanings in Madagascar: Cases of Intercultural Communication, Bergin & Garvey, 1999.

Durrell, Gerald, The Aye-Aye and I: A Rescue Mission in Madagascar, Arcade, New York, 1993.

Ellis, Stephen, The Rising of the Red Shawls: A Revolt in Madagascar, 1895-1899, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985.

Evers, Sandra, and Marc Spindler, ed. Cultures of Madagascar: Ebb and Flow of Influences, Leiden, Netherlands, 1995.

Fitzpatrick, Mary, and Paul Greenaway, Lonely Planet Madagascar - 4th ed., 2001.

Garbutt, Nick, Mammals of Madagascar, Pica Press, 1999.

Goodman, Steven M. and Bruce D. Patterson, ed. Natural Change and Human Impact in Madagascar, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, 1997.

Goodman, Steven M. et al, ed. The Natural History of Madagascar, University of Chicago Press, (Jan. 2004).

Gow, Bonar, Madagascar and the Protestant Impact: The Work of the British Missions, 1818-1895, New York, 1979.

Jolly, Alison, A World Like Our Own: Man and Nature in Madagascar, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1980.

Kreamer, Christine Mulle, and Sarah Fee, Objects as Envoys: Cloth, Imagery, and Diplomacy in Madagascar, Smithsonian Institution, 2002.

Langrand, Olivier, Guide to the Birds of Madagascar, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990.

Lanting. Frans, Madagascar: A World Out of Time, Aperture, New York, 1990.
Larson, Pier M., History and Memory in the Age of Enslavement: Becoming Merina in Highland Madagascar, 1770-1822, Heinemann, 2000.

Mack, John, Madagascar: Island of Ancestors, British Museum, London, 1986.

Mack, John, Malagasy Textiles, Shire Publications, 1989.

Mannoni, Octave, Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization, Praeger, New York, 1956.

Mittermaier, Russell, et al. Lemurs of Madagascar, Conservation International, 1994.

Murphy, Dervla, Muddling Through in Madagascar, Overlook Press, 1985.
Tyson, Peter, The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar, Harper Collins, New York, 2000.

French
Acquier, Jean-Louis, Architecture de Madagascar, Arthaud, Paris, 1997.

La Cité des Mille: Antananarivo: Histoire, Architecture, Urbanisme, CITE/Tsipika, Antananarivo, 1998.

Cauvin, Patrick, Villa Vanille, Albin Michel, 1997.

De Flacourt, Etienne (annotated by Claude Alibert), Histoire de la Grande Ile Madagascar, Karthala, Paris, 1995.

Gallieni, Joseph, Neuf Ans à Madagascar, Hachette, Paris, 1908.

Guide Bleu Evasion, Madagascar, Hachette, Paris, 2001.

Guide Gallimard, Madagascar, 1999.

Randrianary, Victor, Madagascar: Les Chants d'une Ile, Cité de la Musique/Actes Sud, 2001.

Revel, Eric, Madagascar, L'Ile Rouge, Ballard, 1994.

Tronchon, Jacques, L'Insurrection Malgache de 1947, Karthala, Paris, 1987.

Verin, Pierre, Madagascar, Karthala, Paris, 1990.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

General Mills Initiative Helps Vanilla Farmers in Madagascar

General Mills Initiative Helps Vanilla Farmers in Madagascar 

“Contributing to the viability and sustainability of vanilla farming could have a significant impact on the lives of Malagasy growers, their communities, and the environment,” Steve Peterson, director of sourcing sustainability at General Mills, said.
Peterson added that vanilla “is the way of life for these people.” Through sharing their “supply chain expertise, while leveraging our financial resources,” General Mills can help create a higher-quality, more sustainable vanilla supply, while increasing the vanilla farmers’ living standards."

Read more here:


Sunday, February 3, 2013

From the Economist: Malagasy politics: Who will take over?

We are following the upcoming elections closely.  The opening from an excellent recent Economist article is below:

(NOTE: Malagasies is pronounced mahlahgaSHee)

"MALAGASIES have waited four years for a chance to vote for a government. In February 2009, Andry Rajoelina overthrew Madagascar’s president, Marc Ravalomanana, in an army-backed coup. Since then Mr Rajoelina has promised—and postponed—elections every year. But later this year the country will at last go to the polls; presidential and legislative elections have been scheduled for May 8th and July 3rd. But it is far from clear who will win the long-awaited vote."

Former President Ravalomanana




























LINK:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/01/malagasy-politics?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/whowilltakeover


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Queen Ranavalona Makes the Front Page (of Wikipedia)

Queen Ranavalona Makes the Front Page (of Wikipedia)

Wikipedia features a random article everyday on its home page and today's front page carried a story on the "Last Queen of Madagascar."


LINKS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Who are some popular Malagasy Musicians?

Who are some popular Malagasy Musicians?

Along with the literature and poetry of a nation, it's important to be familiar with their music.  I came across this link from National Geographic that seemed like a good place to start.

D'Gary is one of the best guitarists in the world.


Eusebe Jaojoby is a well known Malagasy musician and one of the originators of the salegy style.

LINKS:
http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/madagascar_22
http://youtu.be/qcKzjnew98Q
http://youtu.be/TM6KMV91PKA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eus%C3%A8be_Jaojoby

Monday, January 21, 2013

Mango Season in Madagascar (A Vignette)

Mango Season in Madagascar (A Vignette)


























Below is the first paragraph of a short vignette titled: "Mango Season: A Metaphor for All Things 

Wonderful in Life" by Madagascar Peace Corps volunteer Katie Brown.  The title links to here blog

but you can also find it on the Peace Corps website (link below).

You should also check  out the other Peace Corps resources available.

On November 1st, it was though someone had flipped a switch and the rains began to fall. Six 
long months and many a fruitless rain-dance had produced hardly a drop. Now, the opening of 
the sky is a daily event, one that requires due consideration for the afternoon schedule. For these 
are torrential downpours and venturing out in them is much akin in my opinion to snorkeling: 
extreme difficulty breathing, high likelihood of drowning, thus high risk to low reward.
Fortunately for the captives of the resulting mild afternoon hours, when only the dull roar of rain 
lashing the roof fills the ears, a three-fold blessing comes hand-in-hand with the change of 
seasons: mangos, mangos, and more mangos. For months I had watched them grow heavy on the 
trees, kicked them under-ripe down the back roads of my town, ate them as an accompaniment to 
street-corner brouchettes. For months indeed I tendered my patience and then, suddenly, as the 
rains arrived, the mangos ripened and Nothern Madagascar was swimming in both. Four for ten 
cents at the market, or better yet, send out a brigade of neighborhood children. Fresh mangos on 
a rainy afternoon: one starts to think this island life ain't so bad...

LINKS:

http://collection.peacecorps.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9009coll2/id/224/rec/1

Friday, January 18, 2013

Peace Corps Malagasy Language Intro Document

Peace Corps Malagasy Language Intro Document

We came across the document below and it seemed like a good place to start to familiarize ourselves with Mada's native language of Malagasy (the 'sy' is pronounced 'sh')--French is the official language in the country but isn't widely spoken in the remote villages.

We have always had an appreciation for the Peace Corps because one of our grandmothers (Granny Nanny Darling) worked for the PC in Equador.  The PC website has a variety of interesting resources, including vignettes from past volunteers: 



LINK:
http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/madagascar/MG_Malagasy_Language_Lessons.pdf