The Conjure Woman’s Poetics of Poisoning in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day

Abstract

This article examines the poetics of poisoning in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day. The article traces the depiction of the conjure woman in novels written by African American female novelists in the 1980s, drawing upon the figure’s historical implications in the black canon. Although Naylor’s novel introduces a number of conjure women, this article shifts the focus from the titular protagonist, Mama Day, to the other conjurer, Ruby, who casts a poisonous spell. Ruby’s spell is grounded in African American folklore and exemplifies Naylor’s re-situation of the conjure woman in a postmodern setting.