DOCSLIB.ORG

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Teaching English Language and Literature for Secondary Schools Jakub Štěrba The Slave Narrative and its Crucial Features Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B. A . 2011 1 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………… Author‘s signature 2 I would like to thank to the supervisor of my Master‘s Diploma Thesis Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. for the help, support and guidance of my work. 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction.…………………………………………………………………….. 5 2. The Slave Narrative Genre……………………………………………………… 9 Literacy and Authorship .…………………………………………………… 14 3. Childhood and Disruption of Families in The Slave Narrative…………………. 25 4. Abuse in The Slave Narrative………………………………………………….... 38 Physical Abuse.…………………………………………………………….... 38 Sexual Abuse………………………………………………………………… 49 Social Abuse…………………………………………………………………. 61 5. The Forms of Resistance in The Slave Narrative………………………………... 75 6. Conclusion....……………………………………………………………………. 107 7. Bibliography.……………………………………………………………………. 115 4 Chapter 1 Introduction The major goal of this thesis is to compare and contrast the early slave narratives written in United States of America by former slaves themselves. Slave narratives were written for and served many purposes in the 19th century. Both antebellum and postbellum narratives offered accounts of slaves‘ lives and the workings of slavery as an institution. The writings also revealed characters of slave owners, plantation overseers, clergy, and, often, the impact slavery had on both slaves and white people, rich as well as poor. As far as the authors of slave narratives are concerned, their writings were usually straightforward and strived towards the most sincere portrayal of their lives and struggles as possible. Serving as means of persuading the American public of the perversion slavery brought about and inherently embodied, the texts also enabled the slaves not only to demonstrate their literacy, but their intellect as well. Often, slave narratives displayed powerful rhetorical and logical stances and raised arguments and questions against slavery, and again its mechanisms, such as the incorporation of Christian faith into the fabric of slavery. The slave narratives told stories of life on plantations, of people, and of escapes. The theme of escape is in fact a recurring one in the writings by slave men – however, this is not so much the case in the writings by female slaves, which constitutes a striking difference between the literary works of the two genders within the same genre. While men ponder the possibility of escaping in most of their slave narratives, theirs are the tales of brave escapes in wooden boxes or physical battles with overseers, women concentrate on utterly disparate issues. They concentrate on slavery as an imminent threat to their families, their bodies, their emotions, and their sexualities. Even though sexual and physical oppression is common for both genders in slave 5 narratives, the mother-children bond is much more visible in the writings of female slaves. Men hardly ever show much concern for leaving their families behind while escaping. Women, on the other hand, usually stay home precisely because they are unwilling and/or unable to leave their families enslaved. The emotional and, at the same time, logical approach by either of the genders, as well as the role assigned to men and women within the institution of slavery, is thus a crucial point of analysis in critical evaluation of slave narratives as literary works. For it is in comparing the writings and issues dealt with in slave narratives by men versus narratives by women that one moves beyond the obvious to reveal the complexity of slaves‘ lives and the multitude of layers in the writings. Slave narratives, as mentioned above, are very real and immediate. This is both due to the sincerity and urgency of the issues discussed and the styles the texts are written in. Typically, they were written from the first person perspective. Moreover, slave narratives are non-fiction, in some cases verging on documentary, factual works. In order to establish an image of the typical slave narrative with its crucial features and to point out the differences between texts written by male and female slaves, the thesis looks at four representative texts of 19th century slave narratives; Frederick Douglass‘s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Himself, Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Harriet Jacob‘s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. The analysis of this four texts traces important aspects of these four writings, and thus depicts the crucial features of the slave narrative genre. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter – Introduction – sets the goals of the thesis and sketch how the argument will be approached and dealt with. The 6 second chapter is devoted to the slave narrative genre and especially to the question of authorship which is very important for the slave narrative. The third chapter demonstrates the depiction of childhood and disruption of families in the four texts. The fourth chapter analyzes the presence of various forms of abuse and shows how they are treated in the slave narrative. The third and fourth chapters trace passive aspects of the slave narrative, since they depict what happen to the slaves, without them being able to engage somehow into the state of affairs that concern them. The fifth chapter of the thesis is quite different as it analyzes the active part of the slave narrative; by performing the acts of resistance the protagonists of the books are acting on their own by standing up to injustices of slavery. This chapter depicts the various forms of resistance that are exercised by the authors. The last chapter, conclusion of the whole thesis, supplements the conclusions presented at the end of each chapter, and summarizes the points that are made in the thesis. The thesis consists of the textual analysis of these four primary sources in question with the aim to avoid any philosophical questioning, discussion of unrelated issues or implementation of any personal or subjective insights. With the help of the secondary sources consisting from the books dealing with the slave narrative genre in general, and books, articles and reviews dealing with the particular primary sources, the thesis progressively focuses on the answering of two research questions; What are the crucial features of the slave narrative genre and how they are depicted in the writings? The second questions relates to the diversity of the genre and to the attitude of these four authors towards the institution of slavery which are displayed in the depictions of the crucial features of the slave narrative in their writings. The early slave narratives, as being written roughly at the same time and basically for the same purpose, bear a lot of resemblance typical for this genre. However, despite all the resemblances there is 7 certain diversity and the goal is to point out these differences which show that this genre is worth exploring. The main argument that is being progressively developed through out the thesis depicts the atrocities of slavery as the crucial feature of the slave narrative genre. Atrocities of slavery are presented in every slave narrative and are very significant for the texts. Thus, the thesis concludes with the depiction of the crucial features of the slave narrative, of which the atrocities of slavery are the most significant, which completes the analysis of the slave narrative genre. 8 Chapter 2 The Slave Narrative Genre The first question to be raised while dealing the slave narrative genre is what is the slave narrative? Charles T. Davis and Henry Louis Gates Jr. offers an answer in their work The Slave’s Narrative. Davis and Gates argue that slave narratives are ―autobiographical narratives written or dictated by ex-slaves of African descent in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries‖ (Davis and Gates v). Such a description of the slave narrative provides the reader with a lot of useful information; it says what a slave narrative is as well as when and by whom the slave narrative was written. Although slave narratives were written over a period of three centuries, this thesis focuses on the narratives written in the nineteenth century, since the nineteenth century slave narrative represents the climax of the development of the slave narrative genre. Another important question that is to be raised is what stands behind the origin as well as the expansion of the slave narrative genre? Jennie Miller gives insight on what is known about the slavery while it still exists and what is the character of the information concerning slavery. ―Much of what was initially known about the condition of slaves came from antebellum travel accounts, such as those of Frederick Law Olmstead, or from the writings of Southern apologists published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as Ulrich B. Phillips‖ (Miller 31). Miller continues on the depiction of slavery in the first writings, which also shows how slavery is presented to the broader community. ―In these early works, slavery, as seen through the eyes of the white community, was characterized as both respectable and necessary. Such accounts often depicted slavery as a benign institution and failed to capture the essence of life for the slave‖ (Miller 31). It is quite understandable that ―essence of life for the slave‖ could not be captured and described by a person who never experienced such a life. As 9 stated in Miller‘s words, the reality of slavery was practically non-existent in literary form prior to the publications of the narratives written by former slaves.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Elizabeth Keckley, Confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln Lady Edison?” It Was Rare Enough to Be a How Would a Child Born a Ter’S Son As a Wedding Gift
    Vol. 11, Issue 2 Dr. Jeanne Ramirez Mather, Ed. March 2009 Who was called “The Elizabeth Keckley, Confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln Lady Edison?” It was rare enough to be a How would a child born a ter’s son as a wedding gift. While well known for her self- woman inventor in the 1800s, slave in Virginia grow up to Liz suffered various episodes of centeredness and unstable tem- but combine that with only an become the confidante to Mary abuse as a young slave, it was perament, but unlike most Liz elementary school education, Todd Lincoln? Since 2009 is between age fourteen and twenty- could see past all of this. Ap- and starting a career of inventing the bicentennial of Abraham four that she bore the brunt of both parently Liz recognized that as a child, and it becomes obvi- Lincoln’s birth, it seems appro- physical and sexual abuse, result- Mary’s life as a child was any- ous how Margaret Knight even- priate to introduce the reader to ing in her one and only child, a thing but perfect, and that they tually would be referred to as the child born Elizabeth son. shared an unhappy childhood. “The Lady Edison.” Born in Hobbs. Eventually she went back to Liz eventually would be in 1838 in Maine, Mattie was At her birth, Liz was con- live with her master’s widow and charge of caring for the Lincoln raised with her two older broth- sidered the daughter of literate children, and develop into ers by her mother.
    [Show full text]
  • Racial Identity in Women's Life Writing of The
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2018 AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR Katherine Waddell University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2018.169 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Waddell, Katherine, "AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--English. 71. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/71 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.
    [Show full text]
  • Advanced Study Guide
    Mike Wiley – The Playwright and Actor Actor and playwright Mike Wiley has spent the last decade fulfilling his mission to bring educational theatre to young audiences. In the early days of his career, Wiley found few theatrical resources to shine light on key events and figures in black history. To bring these often ignored stories to life, Wiley started his own production company. Through his work, he has introduced countless students to the stories and legacies of Emmett Till, the Tuskegee Airmen, Henry “Box” Brown and more. Most recently he has brought Timothy B. Tyson’s acclaimed book “Blood Done Sign My Name” to the stage. Mike Wiley has a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has appeared on the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and the National Geographic Channel and was recently profiled in Our State magazine. Synopsis Henry “Box” Brown was an African American born into slavery in 1816 in Louisa County, Virginia. Although he was not subjected to physical violence, Henry’s story (the basis for One Noble Journey) demonstrates the cruelty of slavery was every bit as devastating to the heart as it could be on the body. At the death of his master, Henry’s family was torn apart and parceled out to various beneficiaries of the estate. Henry, who was 33 at the time, was bequeathed to his master’s son and sent to work in Richmond, VA. While there, he experienced the joys of marriage and children, only to have slavery lash his heart again. Henry’s wife and children were taken from him, sold to North Carolina slave- holders and never seen again.
    [Show full text]
  • Library of Congress Magazine January/February 2018
    INSIDE PLUS A Journey Be Mine, Valentine To Freedom Happy 200th, Mr. Douglass Find Your Roots Voices of Slavery At the Library LIBRARY OF CONGRESS MAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 Building Black History A New View of Tubman LOC.GOV LIBRARY OF CONGRESS MAGAZINE Library of Congress Magazine Vol. 7 No. 1: January/February 2018 Mission of the Library of Congress The Library’s central mission is to provide Congress, the federal government and the American people with a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge that can be relied upon to inform, inspire and engage them, and support their intellectual and creative endeavors. Library of Congress Magazine is issued bimonthly by the Office of Communications of the Library of Congress and distributed free of charge to publicly supported libraries and research institutions, donors, academic libraries, learned societies and allied organizations in the United States. Research institutions and educational organizations in other countries may arrange to receive Library of Congress Magazine on an exchange basis by applying in writing to the Library’s Director for Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington DC 20540-4100. LCM is also available on the web at loc.gov/lcm/. All other correspondence should be addressed to the Office of Communications, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington DC 20540-1610. [email protected] loc.gov/lcm ISSN 2169-0855 (print) ISSN 2169-0863 (online) Carla D. Hayden Librarian of Congress Gayle Osterberg Executive Editor Mark Hartsell Editor John H. Sayers Managing Editor Ashley Jones Designer Shawn Miller Photo Editor Contributors Bryonna Head Wendi A.
    [Show full text]
  • The End of Uncle Tom
    1 THE END OF UNCLE TOM A woman, her body ripped vertically in half, introduces The End of Uncle Tom and the Grand Allegorical Tableau of Eva in Heaven from 1995 (figs.3 and 4), while a visual narra- tive with both life and death at stake undulates beyond the accusatory gesture of her pointed finger. An adult man raises his hands to the sky, begging for deliverance, and delivers a baby. A second man, obese and legless, stabs one child with his sword while joined at the pelvis with another. A trio of children play a dangerous game that involves a hatchet, a chopping block, a sharp stick, and a bucket. One child has left the group and is making her way, with rhythmic defecation, toward three adult women who are naked to the waist and nursing each other. A baby girl falls from the lap of one woman while reaching for her breast. With its references to scatology, infanticide, sodomy, pedophilia, and child neglect, this tableau is a troubling tribute to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin—the sentimental, antislavery novel written in 1852. It is clearly not a straightfor- ward illustration, yet the title and explicit references to racialized and sexualized violence on an antebellum plantation leave little doubt that there is a significant relationship between the two works. Cut from black paper and adhered to white gallery walls, this scene is composed of figures set within a landscape and depicted in silhouette. The medium is particularly apt for this work, and for Walker’s project more broadly, for a number of reasons.
    [Show full text]
  • Image Credits, the Making of African
    THE MAKING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY: VOL. I, 1500-1865 PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTION The Making of African American Identity: Vol. I, 1500-1865 IMAGE CREDITS Items listed in chronological order within each repository. ALABAMA DEPT. of ARCHIVES AND HISTORY. Montgomery, Alabama. WEBSITE Reproduced by permission. —Physical and Political Map of the Southern Division of the United States, map, Boston: William C. Woodbridge, 1843; adapted to Woodbridges Geography, 1845; map database B-315, filename: se1845q.sid. Digital image courtesy of Alabama Maps, University of Alabama. ALLPORT LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. State Library of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania (Australia). WEBSITE Reproduced by permission of the Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office. —Mary Morton Allport, Comet of March 1843, Seen from Aldridge Lodge, V. D. Land [Tasmania], lithograph, ca. 1843. AUTAS001136168184. AMERICAN TEXTILE HISTORY MUSEUM. Lowell, Massachusetts. WEBSITE Reproduced by permission. —Wooden snap reel, 19th-century, unknown maker, color photograph. 1970.14.6. ARCHIVES OF ONTARIO. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. WEBSITE In the public domain; reproduced courtesy of Archives of Ontario. —Letter from S. Wickham in Oswego, NY, to D. B. Stevenson in Canada, 12 October 1850. —Park House, Colchester, South, Ontario, Canada, refuge for fugitive slaves, photograph ca. 1950. Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, F2076-16-6. —Voice of the Fugitive, front page image, masthead, 12 March 1854. F 2076-16-935. —Unidentified black family, tintype, n.d., possibly 1850s; Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, F 2076-16-4-8. ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. Wilmore, Kentucky. Permission requests submitted. –“Slaves being sold at public auction,” illustration in Thomas Lewis Johnson, Twenty-Eight Years a Slave, or The Story of My Life in Three Continents, 1909, p.
    [Show full text]
  • ENG 3705-001: Multicultural U. S. Literature Christopher Hanlon Eastern Illinois University
    Eastern Illinois University The Keep Summer 2012 2012 Summer 6-15-2012 ENG 3705-001: Multicultural U. S. Literature Christopher Hanlon Eastern Illinois University Follow this and additional works at: http://thekeep.eiu.edu/english_syllabi_summer2012 Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hanlon, Christopher, "ENG 3705-001: Multicultural U. S. Literature" (2012). Summer 2012. 7. http://thekeep.eiu.edu/english_syllabi_summer2012/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the 2012 at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Summer 2012 by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I f :: - '~-1r ' ~;\... I I / .,.,- - ._......... ~ r ~~,,:. Professor Christopher Hanlon Coleman Hall 3811 Office Hours: MTuW 10:45-12:00 [email protected] Ifyou ask me, the very word "multiculturalism" has become a problem. In university-level literature classes, the pedagogy of multiculturalism descends from the work of the Modern Language Association's Radical Caucus, which during the 1970s worked to unloose literacy education from near-constant attachment to white male authors. The generation of literature professors who initiated the project of multicultural canon revision were explicit that the purposes behind their task were not only (1) to give voice to important writers who had been buried by generations of indifferent literacy historians, but also (2) to effect change in American social life. By teaching a more diverse canon of texts, literature professors would promote an openness to multiple traditions as opposed to investment in some monolithic One, and the inclusive ethos behind such undertaking would have salutary effects well beyond the classroom.
    [Show full text]
  • One Noble Journey National Standards and Study Guide
    One Noble Journey National Standards and Study Guide • Synopsis • Discussion Questions • Words & Phrases to Know • Find Out More • Curriculum Standards Mike Wiley Productions 1999-2004 Mike Wiley Productions is a theatrical company specializing in African American History Plays. One Noble Journey is about the life of Henry “Box” Brown. Brown was an African American who was born a slave in 1816 in Louisa County, Virginia. At the age of thirty-three he was bequeathed to his master's son, who sent him to work in his tobacco factory in Richmond, VA under the authority of a relentlessly evil overseer. Although his experiences in slavery were comparatively mild, and he was not subjected to physical violence, Brown was not content to be a slave. One Noble Journey demonstrates that slavery was still unbearable even under the best of conditions. Brown was able to experience the joys of marriage and even children under slavery’s oppression but his wife and children were eventually taken from him and sold to North Carolina. That horrible incident was Brown’s breaking point and he devised an escape plan. He had himself sealed in a small wooden box and shipped to friends and freedom in Philadelphia. He later settled in Massachusetts and traveled around the northern states speaking against slavery. One Noble Journey dramatizes Brown’s life while demonstrating what an evening with “Brown: The Escaped Slave, Turned Abolitionist!” might be like. Within One Noble Journey is embedded the miraculous true account of Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom the narrative of William and Ellen Craft's escape from slavery.
    [Show full text]
  • Solomon Northup and 12 Years a Slave
    Solomon Northup and 12 Years a Slave How to analyze slave narratives. Who Was Solomon Northup? 1808: Born in Minerva, NewYork Son of former slave, Mintus Northup; Northup's mother is unknown. 1829: Married Anne Hampton, a free black woman. They had three children. Solomon was a farmer, a rafter on the Lake Champlain Canal, and a popular local fiddler. What Happened to Solomon Northup? Met two circus performers who said they needed a fiddler for engagements inWashington, D.C. Traveled south with the two men. Didn't tell his wife where he was going (she was out of town); he expected to be back by the time his family returned. Poisoned by the two men during an evening of social drinking inWashington, D.C. Became ill; he was taken to his room where the two men robbed him and took his free papers; he vaguely remembered the transfer from the hotel but passed out. What Happened…? • Awoke in chains in a "slave pen" in Washington, D.C., owned by infamous slave dealer, James Birch. (Note: A slave pen were where (Note:a slave pen was where slaves were warehoused before being transported to market) • Transported by sea with other slaves to the New Orleans slave market. • Sold first toWilliam Prince Ford, a cotton plantation owner. • Ford treated Northup with respect due to Northup's many skills, business acumen and initiative. • After six months Ford, needing money, sold Northup to Edwin Epps. Life on the Plantation Edwin Epps was Northup’s master for eight of his 12 years a slave.
    [Show full text]
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin: Its History, Its Issues, and Its Consequences
    Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Its History, Its Issues, and Its Consequences Abstract: This research paper analyzes Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most influential and successful work, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although Uncle Tom’s Cabin began as a simple novel written by a woman who was both a wife and mother, it grew to be one of the strongest antislavery books and was even credited with giving the impetus to initiate the Civil War. Stowe incorporated several strongly debated issues of her time in the novel, including slavery, alcohol temperance, and gender roles. However, she was careful to work within the accepted social boundaries and was thus able to appeal to many groups through her novel. Nevertheless, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was highly controversial and sparked a storm of discussion and action from the entire world. This paper explores Stowe’s life, the issues contained within the novel and their presentation, and the reactions of the American public and the world. Course: American Literature I, ENGL 2310 Semester/Year: FA/2012 Instructor: Deborah S. Koelling 1 Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Its History, Its Issues, and Its Consequences When she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe had no idea that she was unleashing a literary giant on the world. Stowe herself was a good wife and mother, and her accomplishment is astonishing for both its near-radical ideas and for its traditional presentation,. Some of the strength of the novel is drawn from Stowe’s own life experiences and struggles, further intensifying the message of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In fact, Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “so this is little woman who caused the great war!” (in reference to the Civil War, qtd.
    [Show full text]
  • Primary Document Reader
    Across the Border: A Transnational Approach to Teaching the Underground Railroad Primary Document Reader Sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, and Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. Sometimes standing on the Ohio River bluff, looking over on a free State, and as far north as my eyes could see, I have eagerly gazed upon the blue sky of the free North, which at times constrained me to cry out from the depths of my soul, Oh! Canada, sweet land of rest--Oh! When shall I get there? Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, that I might soar away to where there is no slavery; no clanking of chains, no captives, no lacerating of backs, no parting of husbands and wives; and where man ceases to be the property of his fellow man. These thoughts have revolved in my mind a thousand times. I have stood upon the lofty banks of the river Ohio, gazing upon the splendid steamboats, wafted with all their magnificence up and down the river, and I thought of the fishes of the water, the fowls of the air, the wild beasts of the forest, all appeared to be free, to go just where they pleased, and I was an unhappy slave! Henry Bibb, Sandwich, Canada West I was told before I left Virginia,--have heard it as common talk, that the wild geese were so numerous in Canada, and so bad, that they would scratch a man's eyes out; that corn wouldn't grow there, nor anything else but rice; that everything they had there was imported.
    [Show full text]
  • Toni Morrison's Beloved
    Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A New Stylistic Narrative Form [PP: 120-125] Sayed Mohammad Anoosheh Hossein Jahantigh Department of English Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages Yazd University, Iran ABSTRACT Toni Morrison faces a great challenge in representing the Atlantic slave trade. In contemporary narrative form, the novel, Beloved, portrays the devastating effects of forced transnational migration. She confronts conventional silences surrounding the aspect of slavery by presenting displaced Africans on their way to America. Her text defines both black literature of the late twentieth century and troubles the status quo as an experiment in aesthetic expression which demonstrates the legacy of trauma fabricated in American culture. She stylizes her narrative form of language for particular effect by using direct references and subtle allusions to the aspect of slavery. Drawing on the coded discourse of oral history and slave narrative as fashion of writerly texts, Morrison takes her readers as participants in the construction of cultural memory. The present article takes up the formalistic and cultural approach to critique the aesthetic means by which Morrison’s verbal style signifies the content of her story, Beloved, which results in a new genre as African-American literature that establishes itself in the late twentieth and the present century world literature. Keywords: Toni Morrison, Beloved, Stylistic Narrative, African-American Literature, Slavery ARTICLE The paper received on: 21/11/2016 Reviewed on: 25/12/2016 Accepted after revisions on: 31/12/2016 INFO Suggested citation: Anoosheh, S. M. & Jahantigh, H. (2016). Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A New Stylistic Narrative Form. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies.
    [Show full text]