British Writing and the Slave Trade - Einzelansicht

At the turn of the 18th century, the slave trade and the Caribbean slave economy were hotly contentious issues in Britain. The movement for the abolition of the slave trade successfully launched a wide range of amazingly "modern’ campaigns - petitions, boycotts, fair-trade consumption - that attracted and mobilised millions of Britons and culminated in the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. How did literature contribute and respond to this intense debate? We weill see that the literary protest aganst he slave trade gos back to at leat the late 17th century when Aphra Behn published her novel, Oroonoko, that will be our first object of discussion. From there we will focus on three distinct genres - autobiographical slave narratives, abolitionist tracts, and Romantic poetry - that were crucial for th abolitionist movement of the late 18th/early 19th centuries in Britain. Looking at texts from Olaudah Equiano, William Wilberforce and William Wordsworth, we will analyse some of the most influential texts that took sides and intervened into the general debate over the slave trade. 

Literatur

Participants have to buy and read

* Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or, The Royal Slave. (Penguin Classics edn.)

* Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (Penguin Classics edn.).

Further material will be made available at the beginning of the course. 

Successful participation (pass) in the Introduction to Literature and the Introduction to Cultural Studies

3 CP ungraded for regular attendance and a response paper (ca 1000 Words)

3 CP graded for regular attendance and a response paper (ca 1000 Words) and a critical bibliography