America's Witchcraft Myths: Culture and Gender Politics in the American Literature of Witchcraft
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: English
Abstract
Texts about witchcraft have been important in American culture since before the Salem trials of 1692, growing out of the folklores and legal traditions of early-modern immigrants. But events at Salem meant that such texts acquired immense political and cultural significance. My research identifies the place of witches ('real' and imaginary) in the fashioning of American identities. It demonstrates that the figure of the witch is still important literary-cultural currency, and delineate the origins of American witchcraft fictions in the conjunction of the European Renaissance with the cultural imperatives of the American colonies.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Marion Gibson (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Gibson M
(2006)
Retelling Salem stories: gender politics and witches in American culture
in European Journal of American Culture
Gibson Marion
(2007)
Witchcraft Myths in American Culture