As Bruxas de Salem, as virgens de Salem e Salem: intersecções entre história e ficção

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the continuities and changes involved in adaptations. To this end, we selected works that retell a historical event from new perspectives, combining memory and transformation. Specifically, we chose the following study objects: The Crucible (MILLER, 1953), The Virgins of Salem (ROULEAU, 1957) and Salem (GILBERT, 2023). Influenced by different spatial, temporal and media contexts, these works revisited the history of those accused and executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, a cruel episode in American history that continues to be reconfigured in fictionalized narratives. Based on this premise, we aim to explore the relationships between tradition and innovation in adaptations, considering historical accounts as hypotexts. For this, we rely on studies about witch persecutions, such as those by Alexander and Russel (2001), Hutton (2021), Nogueira (2004), Ginzburg (2012), and Schiff (2019), with the intention of establishing a parallel between history and fiction. The Malleus Maleficarum, written by inquisitors Kramer and Sprenger (2021), also fits into this context, contributing to understanding the motivations behind the accusations and the association between the female figure and the witch. Acknowledging the impossibility of dissociating women from the supernatural character, we adopt a feminist approach in the analysis of the works, with the theoretical contributions of Federici (2019, 2023). Moreover, we investigate how adaptations update and transform the theme according to the contexts and changes in media. Miller’s (1953) play, Rouleau’s (1957) film and Gilbert’s (2023) graphic novel reinterpret old plots, utilizing new media that impact the construction of narratives. This effect, in turn, allows intermediality to become another important aspect of this study, combined with the adaptation theory proposed by Hutcheon (1985, 1991, 2013) and Stam (2006). Thus, the paper demonstrates that the adapted text can synchronize historical discourses with contemporaneity, exemplified by the intersection of production and reception contexts, the adaptors’ choices, and the influences of media and audiences.