I really enjoyed reading about the Annancy stories in general prior to the class so the fact that we've gotten to read it in this class was a pleasant surprise - Emma did a great job on her presentation too, it was really informative and a great question. I've always been intrigued with the trickster tales and how closely it's interwoven in West-Indies and African culture. With Emma's question if what it means - oral stories are common and helpful ways in showing the fluidity with almost "free-form" within Caribbean / African community, it's not with the intention to define static rules but rather to allow others to join in the meaning-making within these stories. They're storytellers that allow the audience and the teller to be on equal terms - there is no hierarchy, not really. With the way the woman is dressed (including her cloak), it relates to the preconception of Obeah that's closely ingrained in Jamaican culture but within colonialism, it was outlawed (I believe) and it was in an attempt to keep them within "common practices" (outside of their own culture - it's an attempt to assimilate. it makes sense then that there was this defensive / anger in the woman's posture and facial feature - it's hinting at this false promise of being "civilized within colonial protection". It's a lie and it threatened the way of Caribbean / African culture.

Obeah was also another interesting thing to look into for me and that it's often described as being a "witch doctor" that dabbles in the practice to protect people from misfortune (at least from what I've looked up quickly). In this case, the European would be the "misfortune" that befalls the Jamaican people. It'd then seem like the witch doctor's (the woman depicted) role as a protector of the people within her community. It's also important that Pamela kept the patois as part of the language because it's the twain of how they speak, it's common and basically raw in its words - there's no need to translate it to something that is within colonial standards because this is a Jamaican fairytale, it'd make sense to keep it as true to the culture as possible. It's like this resistance to being cannibalized into British rule and holding onto the parts that make them Jamaican; the language, the style of dress and the practices are something to hold onto. I just...really like the Annancy stories, great job to Emma again!