Join Emily Zarka, Ph.D. on a journey to discover humans’ unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature and film.
Curated by: Storied (119 videos)
Check out our new channel, PBS Documentaries! https://www.youtube.com/@PBSDocumentaries A haunting Dominican legend comes alive: La Ciguapa, a mysterious woman of the mountains said to lure victims to their doom. But beyond the myth lies a deeper story—of colonial history, resistance, and identity. Is she a monster… or a symbol of survival and freedom? For audio descriptions, go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateStoried ***** Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka Writer/Producer/Director: Shenny de los Angeles Creative Director: David Schulte Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Executive Producer: Dr. Emily Zarka Producer: Thomas Fernandes Editor/Animator: Steven Simone Illustrator: Fanesha Fabre Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell Additional Footage: Shutterstock Music: APM Music Consulting Expert: Dr. Omaris Z. Zamora Expert: Ruth C. Pion Expert: Jonathan De Oleo Ramos Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program The poems "A 1 2 3 Portrait of a Legend" by Josefina Báez and “La Ciguapa” by Elizabeth Acevedo recorded by the poets for The LatinX Project at NYU. Learn more about Elizabeth Acevedo's poetry here: https://www.acevedowrites.com/ Learn more about Josefina Baez's poetry here: https://www.josefinabaez.com/ Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography Zamora, Omaris Z. Ciguapa Unbound: AfroLatinx Feminist Epistemologies of Tranceformation. New York: NYU Press, 2026. https://nyupress.org/9781479845392/ciguapa-unbound/ The introduction to Mayes, April J. The Mulatto Republic: Class, Race, and Dominican National Identity. 1st ed. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2014. Pons, Frank Moya. "The Politics of Forced Indian Labour in La Española 1493-1520." Antiquity 66, no. 250 (Mar 01, 1992): 130. Stone, Erin Woodruff. “America’s First Slave Revolt: Indians and African Slaves in Española, 1500–1534.” Ethnohistory (DURHAM) 60, no. 2 (2013): 195–217. Candelario, Ginetta E. B. “La Ciguapa y El Ciguapeo: Dominican Myth, Metaphor, and Method.” Small Axe : A Journal of Criticism (DURHAM) 20, no. 3 (2016): 100–112. Frank Moya Pons, The Dominican Republic: A national history: https://archive.org/details/dominicanrepubli00fran https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/sp2021/ciguapaunbound