Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2000 Slain in the Spirit: a Vodun Aesthetic in Selected Works of Simone Schwarz -Bart, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paule Marshall. Maria Thecla Smith Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Smith, Maria Thecla, "Slain in the Spirit: a Vodun Aesthetic in Selected Works of Simone Schwarz -Bart, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paule Marshall." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7169. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7169 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT: A VODUN AESTHETIC IN SELECTED WORKS OF SIMONE SCHWARZ-BART, ZORA NEALE HURSTON, AND PAULE MARSHALL A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Maria Thecla Smith B.A., University of the West Indies, 1979 Maitrise, Universite de Poitiers, 1989 D.E.A., Universite de Bordeaux, 1991 May, 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 9963964 UMI__ ® UMI Microform 9963964 Copyright 2000 by Beil & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would never have been completed without the assistance of numerous individuals. I would like to acknowledge the following people for their contributions at various stages of this project's elaboration and execution. Thanks to a number of friends and colleagues beginning with my close circle of girlfriends in Trinidad: Mecrina Joseph Crosby, Marlene Emanis, Mary Allurn Lee-A- Ping, who all kept my spirits up during my trips home. In particular, I am grateful to Lucyanna MoyHing for generously xeroxing and mailing to me many pages of reading material from the library of the University of the West Indies. Thanks also to fellow Trinidadian, Ulric Johnson, for his many kindnesses during my final year of writing; to Dr.Philippe Bikoumou, for his unwavering interest in my professional development and for his moral support; to Carmen Douglas, who took precious time from her job duties at Middleton Library to render me personal favors; to Robert Bigelow, the library assistant at Middleton, for excellent assistance in finding sources; to Dr. Meta Schettler for generously offering to read and provide useful critical comments on my manuscript; to Dr. Alma ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dawson for her moral support and for accepting my drafts on a regular basis; to Dr. Ron May for setting up my computer and offering helpful advice on formatting; to Chris Kisling who used his extensive knowledge of computer software to reconfigure this dissertation into an acceptable form; and to Terri Boyd who generously assisted in many personal matters, and who rendered yeoman service during the final formatting of this work. Thanks to my entire dissertation committee, the first and foremost being the committee chair, Dr. Patrick McGee, who recognized the possibilities in my initial proposal and who remained a forceful presence— prodding me at times, coming to my rescue at a crucial point, and generally allowing me the space I needed to complete the dissertation process in my own way. I am also deeply indebted to Dr. Keith Sandiford. His Caribbean presence in the department, particularly during my initial phase of culture shock, and his encouragement, advice, and comments on my work throughout the years have been invaluable. Thanks to Dr. John Lowe, my "favorite" professor, for his wonderful faith in my abilities. Dr. Lowe has a special gift for making his students believe in themselves. I am particularly grateful for his suggestion about ways to turn my dissertation into a book. Thanks to Dr. Femi iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Euba, who kindly agreed to sit on my committee at very short notice, and whose willingness to lend a sympathetic ear I appreciate, along with his insights for expanding and enhancing this dissertation. To all of my professors I owe a huge debt for their excellent scholarly interventions. Yet, the magnitude of moral and material support I have received would have been to no avail without the help of my friend, Dr. Cynthia DeMarcus. Words cannot describe the debt of gratitude I owe to her for her assistance as I entered the final and most difficult year of my dissertation journey. Not only has she been a constant source of encouragement and comfort, but thanks to her skillful editing and her knowledge of the dissertation process in general, she has shown me how to complete the journey. I cannot, however, ignore the single most important source of my strength, my family. To my brothers, Winston and Richard, and my sister, Kimlin, I issue a resounding thanks. In ways too numerous to mention, my siblings have contributed to my continued well-being. A special thanks, nevertheless, to Winston for providing me with space and material assistance in New York during the summer months of 1997 as I struggled valiantly to take control of this iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. work. I also thank my husband, Bertram Barnes, for his intellectual input during the initial conception and elaboration of this project, and his wonderful moral and material assistance during the three years of research. And a special mention also must be made of our son, Bertram Anthony, the joy of my life, and whose very existence has kept me going. Most of all, for the duration of my life's journey and in particular the final years of this project, I will forever be indebted to my loving parents, Amoy and Arnold Smith. They took my most precious thing, my baby boy, and cared for him when I was no longer able to do so, thereby providing the crucial psychological space I needed to focus on the completion of this project. Thanks to my mother for her enduring vision of excellence and faith in her children's abilities, her deep spirituality, her strength of character and her determination. Thanks to my father for his kind and gentle nature, his constancy and his generosity. With this work I pay homage to Amoy and Arnold Smith, my living and most esteemed ancestors. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................... i i ABSTRACT.............................................. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.......................... 1 2 ZORA NEALE HURSTON'S COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS . 28 3 SIMONE SCHWARZ-BART'S THEATRE OF THE MARVELOUS........................... 88 4 PAULE MARSHALL'S RITUALS OF RECONNECTION. 146 CONCLUSION............................................ 188 WORKS C I T E D .......................................... 196 VITA.................................................. 206 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This study, focusing on select novels by women writers of the African diaspora, discovers