Obeahwomen and Creolized Christianity: Syncretic Religion in The Drifting of Spirits and Wide Sargasso Sea

The mystery and "otherness" of Caribbean religion has been a pervasive motif for centuries. The unique melding of indigenous, African, and European religious traditions has had a profound impact on literary depictions of Caribbean religion, in particular Afro-Caribbean beliefs and practices. This essay exams two novels, Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and The Drifting of Spirits by Gisele Pineau, and their depictions of Afro-Caribbean syncretic religious practice, particularly by female characters, as a symbol of living outside of accepted cultural norms.