Dr Asantewa will highlight British, Caribbean and American literary representations of African women who used indigenous spiritual practices during slavery/colonialism to fight white supremacy.

Tituoba/Tituba is an African female agitator, cast aside by patriarchal history, who was accused as one of the Salem Witches (USA 1692) and condemned to death. She confessed that she was a witch and was let free whilst her white female counterparts were killed.

In the Jamaican set novel ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ (which links to the 1847 British classic ‘Jane Eyre’), there is a reference to African spirituality as a power used by Christophine that destabilises the patriarchal “Rochester” character.

In Beloved by Toni Morrison (USA) and Myal and Louisiana by Erna Brodber (Trinidad) obscure pre-colonial, female-centred spiritual systems are employed to subvert European power.

These topics and more will be explored in this illustrated online lecture plus Q&A.

This is an online talk via Zoom.

Your Zoom link will be sent to you after you register, 12 hours before the event starts.

Register here