salem position

[drydem]

One of the interesting and underexplored dimensions of the Salem Witch Hysteria is the degree to which it is influenced by a conflict between literary and oral cultures of the time. This is borne out specifically in two major aspects of witch trials. First, a major part of the accusation of witchcraft involves the signing of the devil's book, marking a written contract. The Devil's book marks the devil as a figure of official power rather than communitarian power, of textual authority rather than communal authority. This conflict is also supported in one of the key examinations of witches. One of the key tests of an accused witch was the saying of the Lord's Prayer. In trial, accused witches were made to say the Lord's Prayer and if they messed up at all, then it was seen as evidence of guilt. This test of oral knowledge exemplifies the oral-literary split present. The innocent were those whose knowledge was oral and whose obligations were communitarian and understood rather than external and contractual.