Slavery and Class in the American South
A Generation of Slave Narrative Testimony, 1840-1865
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4156355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicole N Aljoe (0000-0003-0471-4126, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 476-476 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaaa252 |
| OpenAlex | W3089120881 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Although scholarship has confirmed that the “testimony published by the generation of former slaves who produced narratives between 1840 and 1865 made a vital and indelible contribution to a global literature of human rights,” most academic engagements with these texts—commonly known as slave narratives—tend to be forensic analyses or are overwhelmingly concerned with questions of authority and authenticity. In this crowning scholarly achievement of a long career, William L. Andrews confirms that these seemingly simple narratives can offer more complex and nuanced readings. In addition to revealing the value of close attention to the narratives, this monograph, as did Andrews's previous work, highlights the complexity of the lives of the enslaved and their commentary on key issues. Andrews focuses on the trenchant commentary about class offered by the enslaved narrators, the vast majority not from the 90 percent who toiled in the fields as agricultural workers. He distinguishes the nuances of social differentiation articulated in the narratives, writing that “the mid-century narratives contain fascinating and illuminating perspectives on class and caste, self and community, refracted through the perspective and often the priorities of the pre-1865 anti-slavery movement” (p. 321
Aesthetics · Art · Caste · Class (philosophy · Epistemology · Literature · Narrative · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Visual arts · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law · Race, History, and American Society
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |