Successful alewives from the Middle Ages, who used funnels with top vents (which today鈥檚 costume witch hats resemble) and cauldrons to make their product, were sometimes accused of witchcraft by less profitable male brewers as an underhanded attempt to vie for customers. Today, witchcraft accusations still abound鈥攖ake the American political arena, where freshman female Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been accused by some conservatives of leading a coven and former president Donald Trump has, hundreds of times, characterized criminal and civil investigations of him as 鈥渨itch hunts.鈥
Halloween 2021 will soon be observed but, regardless of the season, witchcraft is a perennially intriguing topic that has fueled creativity. That鈥檚 partly why Jennifer Pullen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of creative writing and fiction at 麻豆传媒, will be teaching a new Topics in Fiction course in spring 2022 on witches in literature and film. Pullen intends for her students to analyze and interrogate how and why witches have been represented over the years in words and cinema, specifically through historical and fantasy fiction works. Power dynamics, patriarchal positioning, gender, class and more will be addressed.
A self-described 鈥済iant nerd鈥 who has taught several courses focusing on fairy tales, Pullen says she is interested in the dichotomy between witchcraft as a female empowerment vehicle and its maligned status as that of pure evil. The commercialization and rhetorical nuances of how witchcraft is portrayed are also on her radar.
鈥淚t鈥檚 social and it鈥檚 economic, which we see over and over again. There鈥檚 just a lot to it. I鈥檓 interested in the tension between thinking about witches as an idea that鈥檚 powerful and positive versus being used negative as a disciplinary function against people who speak out,鈥 she says.
Pullen notes the case of medicine鈥檚 emergence as a professionalized field years ago, in which some men intent on commodifying and regulating the practice tended to impugn women who had already established themselves as herbal healers, midwives and other trusted medical practitioners within their communities.
She also mentioned pop cultural instances in which witches are domesticated, their demeanor and power over others restrained, and their lives focused on servitude. The classic TV series 鈥淏ewitched鈥 is an example of this archetype.
Pullen says in some historical literary instances, characters who were originally depicted as fairies and goddesses altered over time into witches with more nefarious intentions.
The spring course will be 鈥渓ooking at witches in terms of historical fiction, their actual history, and our contemporary cultural interactions with the idea of witchcraft,鈥 Pullen says.
Some of the reading material will include 鈥淚, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem,鈥 a novel written from the point of view of a real-life West Indian slave who was charged with witchcraft during the Salem witch trails; 鈥淲itch Light,鈥 a novel set in the Scottish Highlands around the time of the Massacre of Glencoe, that focuses on the conversations and memories of the female protagonist; and 鈥淟ike Water for Chocolate,鈥 a Latin American magical realism book with a cooking-centered theme. Students will also watch the 2000 comedy-drama film 鈥淐hocolat,鈥 a scene from 鈥淲icked,鈥 鈥淜iki鈥檚 Delivery Service,鈥 and other relevant film selections.
Additionally, as with many of her other courses, Pullen intends to incorporate a creative writing element into this curriculum. 鈥淚 like to give students a chance to engage with the arts through creating something, which I think is more fun than just writing a regular paper,鈥 she says.
鈥淚 think the students are excited鈥 about this course, Pullen says. In some of the courses she taught this past spring semester, she had suggested two options for an upcoming topics course. 鈥淭hey overwhelmingly said, 鈥榃e want witches,鈥欌 she maintains.