"The Circle Stands before You": Reincarnation and Traumatic Memory in Phyllis Alesia Perry's Stigmata

Abstract

Abstract:This essay examines Phyllis Alexia Perry's Stigmata, a neo-slave narrative in which the Yoruba concept of matrilineal reincarnation, or yetunde, serves as an interface between the slave past and postslavery African American identity. Specifically, the novel adapts the Yoruba notion of yetunde to frame the corporeal and emotional connection that the protagonist, Lizzie, shares with her female ancestors. Drawing on decolonized trauma theory, this essay shows how Perry's novel not only rejects the primacy of Western ontologies but also insists that a reappraisal of the traumatic history of enslavement be evaluated from a postcolonial perspective.