Witchcraft Trial: A Scottish Case: Article Analysis

In “A Narratological Approach to Witchcraft Trial: A Scottish Case”, Willumsen uses primary sources in the form of historical documents that were narrated by a scribe. However, this source may provide bias as the scribe had authority over the contexts of the texts (Willumsen, 2011). She emphasizes the importance of understanding the language of the interpreters in order to make sense of witchcraft. Willumsen highlights the importance of this source by referring to other authors narratological works. Narratological approaches get closer to the spectrum of meanings that occur in a complex situation. This differentiates from a source such as a confession or testimony by individuals, as readers are focusing on what the narrator is discussing, as

well as the importance of cultural framework when studying historical interpretations, which is exemplified in Natalie Zemon Davis’s study (Willumsen, 2011).

Willumsen uses an exploratory framework, which is evident in the fact that she analyzes how this document is being narrated by a scribe. She emphasizes that her analysis pays careful attention to the language in the story and how it is told, which would have been overlooked by readers. Moreover, Willumsen explores the patterns of meaning rather than just the causal relationships. A document that Willumsen presents is found in Highland Papers, and is known as The Bute Document. This documents 6 women who were accused of witchcraft and were questioned between January and Febuary of 1662. I found this interesting as the Bute Document is comprised of smaller stories, each focuses on one woman. It is speculated that this document was addressed to members of the Privy Council of Scotland. It’s also interesting to know that there was an uneven distribution between men and women. Among the persons accused of witchcraft, 83.9% were women and 14.% were men (Willumsen, 2011). This leads me to question if men used their privilege to target as many women as they wished for their cause?