• Dr. G. Saravana Prabu

The Africans believe that the events occurring in the material world are not accidental; they are determined by the spirits inhabiting the invisible world. Conjuring is a traditional practice of the Africans to invoke the spirits for good or evil. Gloria Naylor by incorporating this traditional practice in her works succeeds in developing the African American oral tradition into literature. She keeps her culture alive with this effort. In the novel Mama Day using the traditional method which includes working with roots, using hands and herbs and communing with ancestors, Mama Day heals the malady of Bernice. This article explores how the author, in her novel Mama Day, portrays the failure of western medicine and the triumph of African healing practices.

Healing, African, conjuring, spirits, medicine

"Triumph of Conjuring and Healing: A Close Reading of Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.837-842, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907B43.pdf

"Triumph of Conjuring and Healing: A Close Reading of Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp837-842, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907B43.pdf