• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 11 / 25 / 2010

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By Yuris Nórido. Before I began reading I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, I found a singular confession of the author, Maryse
Condé, "Tituba and I have lived in close intimacy for a year. During our very long conversation, she has told me these things that she had not confided to anyone."

And such ease with which Maryse speaks of the supernatural will accompany us throughout the book. The editorial fund Casa de las Americas has published, during the recent week, this singular novel by the Guadeloupe’s writer, one of the most prominent voices of Caribbean literary scene.

This is the first work of Condé published in Cuba. It has the number 168 in the catalog of the Latin American and Caribbean Library.

In the novel, Maryse recreates the "autobiography" of Tituba, a character involved in the notorious Salem witch trials in the late 17th century. It is about the slave from Barbados who was accused, along with other women, of bewitching a few girls from the small town. The balance of the plot was tragic: almost two dozen people were hanged.

Beyond the historical references, it is not an unknown story: many of the players were part of the famous and unique theatrical text of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

In fact, Condé dialogues without prejudice with her work, giving voice to one of its most controversial characters: Tituba, the black "witch" that "confessed" her crime and, incidentally, "involved" other victims.

It is evident the demanding vocation from the first pages: Condé is fully identified with her heroine and does not hesitate to "justify" her to the end. To the author, Tatuba is a symbol of justice, slavery, racism, and stigmatization of a culture.

But it is also a peculiar historiographic exercise: by choosing Tituba as the star, a character neglected by historians, Condé claims the right of the "small" to tell the story of the world.

In I, Tituba...the readers will be trapped by the many exciting adventures. The fast pace will not allow them to rest. Readers will be captivated by the powerful poetry.

We must go beyond the anecdote. Multiple connotations came to light in The Crucible and I, Tituba…Fortunately, gone are the days when anyone could go to the gallows just to tell stories of witches, magic and transmigration. But some of the calamities Tituba tells remain pending issues of our time. The contemporaneity of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem is overwhelming.

Cubasi Translation Staff