Mama Day (Magill’s Literary Annual 1989)
At a glance:
- Author: Gloria Naylor
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The latter part of the twentieth century, with references to the early part of the nineteenth century
- Setting: Willow Springs, a fictitious island off the Georgia-South Carolina coast, and New York City
- Principal Characters: Miranda (Mama) Day, Ophelia (Cocoa) Day, George Andrews, Abigail Day, Dr. Brian Smithfield, Dr. Buzzard, Bernice Duvall, Ruby
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, Folkloric or magical people, Magic or magicians, Power, personal or social, South or Southerners, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, New York City, 1980’s, Quilts or quilting, Georgia, Islands, Women, Witches or witchcraft
- Locales: New York, NY, Georgia, Islands, South Carolina
The Afro-American community, since its inception, has maintained fables and legends of heroic figures who have been symbols of inspiration and hope through the long, hard times of slavery and discrimination. Appearing at first in songs, stories, and chants in the oral tradition and then recapitulated and retold in novels by black writers such as Toni Morrison (Beloved, 1987) and David Bradley (The Chaneysville Incident, 1981), these mythic/realistic creations have countered the stereotypical, indifferent, and ignorant reduction of black American culture. In Mama...
[The entire page is 3034 words long]
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