Mocking the sacred

Frederick Douglass's “slaveholder's sermon” and the antebellum debate over religion and slavery

Bibliographic Data

ID9239756
AuthorsGary S Selby (George Washington University, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume88
Issue3
Pages326-341
Publication date2002-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuarterly Journal of Speech (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5630 • E-ISSN: 1479-5779
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00335630209384380
OpenAlexW2005594994
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited32

In his early addresses on religion and slavery, particularly his famous “Slaveholder's Sermon, “Frederick Douglass used parody to address one of the abolition movement's most serious challenges, the belief that the Bible sanctioned slavery. Douglass strategically juxtaposed explicit claims to his status as a fugitive slave with a persona he enacted by mocking proslavery preaching in such a way that he confronted audiences with what Kenneth Burke called “perspective by incongruity.” In this way, he forcefully undermined proslavery religion's claim to legitimacy

Art · Humanities · Legitimacy · Persona · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Politics · Sermon · Sociology · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Law · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Philosophy · Religious studies