Assumptions Unltd.

What is a fundamental property of Black Canon?
This question was posed a few weeks ago as a continuing query in which to guide our studies. And, three books into the course, I had found a solid set of qualities that seemed intrinsic to developing a definition of Black Lit. The first was one I had toyed around with from my reading of 100 Years of Solitude; that within the scope of "Black Lit" there is in the landscape or setting an element of mystic, surreal, or extra-ordinary. The second was posed by the instructor; issues of identity, specifically that of isolation, disjointedness, and out-and-out awkwardness.
I was sharing this with my roommate the other night. His ability to analyze cultural or social issues is practically intuition, and he picked up on a topic that I had not even had the foresight to "queer."

We were sharing our thoughts, and I was going through my reasoning of Black Canon having elements of mysticism--especially with regards to the land. In Morrison's Paradise there is a mysterious couple constantly having sex in the wilderness. In Danticat's Dew Breaker the mountains of Haiti are romanticized while the people in the villages seem spiritually attuned. In Jones' All Aunt Hagar's Children a character is miffed that a root worker is able to heal her mother better than any nurse or doctor. I had found a definite trend.

But as I was sharing, my roommate asked why we call that "mystic." I was confused at first, as it seemed the best word for the trait. "Voodoo" was too limiting, and had bad connotations...like the concept of snake oil--just with an evil edge. But that was his point: we never call the dominant forms of spirituality "mystic". For instance, none of the Book of Genesis would sound right called "mystic"--such a word would seem inappropriate. Paradise Lost is not called "mystic", but rather "mythic". There is a connotation associated with the word "mystic" which implies that it is a lesser spirituality. "Mystic" is a word relegated to the other, the third world, and the less important. "Religious", on the other hand, seems to occupy the other side of the binary as a wholesome and entirely acceptable title.

But why would such a spectrum exist? One need only look at those in a position of dominance. Christianity, in its myriad forms, had dominated the theology of the West--decrying other spiritualities/mysticisms as, well, mystic. Even large religions such as Hinduism are described in a mystic light in British Lit, reinforcing the idea that mysticism is the spirituality of the oppressed, while religion is for the first world. These mysticisms were also actively pressed against by the West, who sought to de-validify and marginalize the belief systems of the other.
Christianity has also had a definite "witch hunt" in regards to rooting out or converting "pagan" ideas. Hawthorne satirizes early American ideas of religion with many of his works, which include scenes of hypocrisy and witchcraft. Which bring up the idea of potency. Witchcraft was viewed as a very tangible way to condemn one's soul in order to work supernatural acts of evil. But voodoo, on the other hand, seemed only to have power when in the hands of the natives. The idea of religion versus mysticism is also shown in how we (a reader affected by the Western view of religion=Christianity) see their respective malicious forms. The voodoo priests are brushed off, while the witches are burned at the stake. Christianity, even in a malicious form, is more powerful/dangerous.

But back to the main point. We don't call elements of Christianity "mystic," but we are quick to call root workers and a surreal environment "mystic." This shows an unbalance between the concepts in language, which is determined by prestige, which is held by the dominant classes.
So where did this leave my idea? I didn't have many other words which had the appropriate connotation for the idea of "spirituality in environment." "Voodoo," as stated above, wouldn't work. "Spirituality" sounded too New Age, and "religion" implied something to ordered or Western. I wanted to express the concept of "the ethereal subtly present in Black Literature", but "mystic" had the best ideas associated with the theme I was trying to express.

My roommate, after we worked through the above concepts, agreed. Our ideas concerning "religion" were enlightened, but how many of our peers had had the same discussion? And so I felt resigned to fall back to calling my concept "mystic setting." But then, when someone uses mystic, are they intending to imply second-class spirituality?