The Slave Ship as the Chronotope of the Black Atlantic
Interaction between Space and Time as Reflected in the Antebellum Slave Narrative
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6013634 |
|---|---|
| Authors | András Tarnóc (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Pages | 169-180 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Eger Journal of American Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1786-2337 |
| Publisher | Eger Journal of American Studies - EJAS (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.33036/ejas.2023.169 |
| OpenAlex | W4386263879 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
The international slave trade is considered the largest migratory wave in human history.Between 1450 and 1750 approximately 15 million people were forcibly removed from Africa.The slave ship, a vessel physically standing for and at the same time symbolizing the infamous Middle Passage is more than just a plain watercraft as it reifies the slave trade and according to Paul Gilroy functions as a chronotope (4).The international slave trade, a liminal activity impacting three continents, Africa, America, and Europe primarily originated from the Atlantic littoral.The slave ship naturally applies to first generation slaves arriving in the New World before the United States and Britain prohibited commerce of humans in 1808 and 1807 respectively.The slave ship as a tangible manifestation of the slave trade, either the British or American version, had plied the waters within the context of the triangular trade.The first scheme includes the exchange of guns, or manufactured goods produced in Britain for slaves at the West Coast of Africa, followed by the infamous Middle Passage to the Caribbean, and the selling of slaves for primarily sugar at the Caribbean market and the eventual return of that commodity to Britain.The American version of the triangular trade had three endpoints: New England, with rum production, the slave coast, and the Caribbean.Accordingly, rum was shipped to West Africa to be exchanged for slaves, who were taken across the Atlantic to slave markets in the West Indies, where after completing the heinous "transaction" sugar or molasses was purchased, which was transported to New England again for the making of rum.While the early phase of the Atlantic slave trade was controlled by six countries, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Denmark, eventually due to the Portuguese and English dominance most slaves were taken to North America and Brazil.Between 1750 and 1850 the slave trade was centered around three staples: cotton at the American South, sugar in the Caribbean, and coffee in Brazil.In the view of David Eltis the slave trade was made possible by the development of European navigation, the demand for the respective products, the warm oceanic
Art · Chronotope · Geography · Literature · Narrative · Physics · Spacetime · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Computer Science · History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |