African-American Literature: Introduction

By King Meera -
I'm sorry it's not in essay format - the notes are too scattered
  • History of African American writing not rooted in pain and suffering but in resistance
  • look at slavery as a project
  • auction block tradition (like in 12 years a slave) (belief that some are sub-human)
  • state of supported slavery - heavy physical labor that was required in plantations and agriculture (cotton, canes) provided for through slavery - white man didn't want to get his hands dirty especially when free labor was an option
  • Boers = Germans in Africa
  • Slaves tracked down as animals
  • manacled in holds
  • belonged to different tribes; had strong Islamic practices
  • slave traders were illiterate, brutish whites
  • Africans were very civilized but stripped of civilization in the holds
-> clothing removed (morality, modesty denied)
-> dead left to fester and be eaten by rats
-> cleaned by hot water being thrown at them
-> auction block (complete objectification)
-> marriage not allowed
  • but could not break their spirits - innate sense of survival
  • poignant Juba dance an the Juba tradition born from it - mockery in the holds: made to dance and sing while shackled - a specifically African-American tradition, most visible in New Orleans - a reminder of all that their people have suffered and persevered
  • holdings - large farms to contain slaves like a sheep pen - had tall sharp pens
  • church and state condoned slavery
  • blacks soulless - proven by Negroid forehead, supposedly resembling earlier primate ancestors
  • soulless therefore:
-> no gospel
-> no heaven 
-> no hope of ever doing good except in servitude
  • Mississippi - "sold down the river" - centre of slavery - symbolic of hope and fear
  • poetry about Negro streaks of rivers
  • Huckleberry Finn
  • The Help
  • further dehumanization:
-> given names by white owners from Old Testament - short names easy to holler - naming was an act of claiming
-> living conditions and housing especially in Southern states: Big House with porches, porticos, Roman pillars; vast estates with shanties for slaves in some corner
  • 10$ fine if caught teaching slaves - literacy for white man alone
  • backs allowed to sing, speak, but only in Biblical language - gave rise to Negro spirituals
  • story of Moses became central to their lives
  • negritude movement - Caribbean black community reclaimed identity and took pride
  • pride sometimes a dangerous thing - sets boundaries and limits the proud to their identity
  • identities operate through exclusion
  • flipside of pride is guilt and shame - if I choose to celebrate being KoBrah, I cannot, by being anything else, be a disgrace to my community
  • Yehuda Amichi - All The Generations Before Me

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