I, Tituba, Black Witch of SalemOffered here for the first time in English is I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, by Guadeloupean writer Maryse Conde. This wild and entertaining novel, winner of the 1986 Grand Prix Litteraire de la Femme, expands on the true story of the West Indian slave Tituba, who was accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, arrested in 1692, and forgotten in jail until the general amnesty for witches two years later. Maryse Conde brings Tituba out of historical silence and creates for her a fictional childhood, adolescence, and old age. She turns her into what she calls "a sort of female hero, an epic heroine, like the legendary 'Nanny of the maroons, "' who, schooled in the sorcery and magical ritual of obeah, is arrested for healing members of the family that owns her. Rich with postmodern irony, the novel even includes an encounter with Hester Prawn of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Conde breaks new ground in both style and content, transcending cultural and epochal boundaries, not only exposing the hypocrisy of Puritan New England but challenging us to look at racism and religious bigotry in contemporary America. This highly readable and ultimately joyful novel celebrates Tituba's unique voice, exploring issues of identity and the implications of Otherness in Western literary tradition. Its multiple layers will delight a wide variety of readers. |
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Abigail African Afterword Aimé Césaire Anne Putnam arms asked Barbados Benjamin Cohen d'Azevedo Betsey Black Witch blood body Boston Bridgetown cabin Carlisle Bay child Christopher color confess Creole Darnell daughter Deodatus door dream evil eyes face father French Caribbean girls going Goodwife Parris Guadeloupe hair hand head healing heard heart Hester invisible Iphigene island Jews John Indian knew laughed live looked Mama Yaya maroons Mary Walcott Maryse Condé Mistress mother Negress never nigger night novel Parris's plantation prayers prison Puritan revenge Salem witch trials Samuel Parris Sarah Osborne Satan screamed seemed Ségou silk-cotton tree skin slave smell spirits stared started story Susanna Endicott talk tell Tituba told took trees turned village voice West Indies whispered wife Witch of Salem woman women words writing Yaya and Abena