The Cambridge Companion To Slavery In American Literature

This book brings together leading scholars to examine slavery in American literature from the eighteenth century to the present day.

The slave narrative has become a crucial genre within African American literary studies and an invaluable record of the experience and history of slavery in the United States. This Companion examines the slave narrative's relation to British and American abolitionism, Anglo-American literary traditions such as autobiography and sentimental literature, and the larger African American literary tradition. Special attention is paid to leading exponents of the genre such as Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, as well as many other, less well known examples. Further essays explore the rediscovery of the slave narrative and its subsequent critical reception, as well as the uses to which the genre is put by modern authors such as Toni Morrison. With its chronology and guide to further reading, the Companion provides both an easy entry point for students new to the subject and comprehensive coverage and original insights for scholars in the field.

This volume offers a rigorous yet accessible overview of the key questions and intersectional approaches pertaining to American literature and the body. The chapters have been written in an accessible style, making them useful for undergraduates as well as for more experienced researchers.

This book introduces readers to early American literary studies through original readings of key literary texts.

Offers an overview of American environmental literature across genres and time periods, introducing readers to a range of ecocritical methodologies.

This Companion presents new essays covering the one hundred and fifty year history of the African American novel.

An engaging and informative overview of the life and works of Frederick Douglass.

Highlights the shifting terrain in literary studies of slavery and challenges the notion of what constitutes slavery and its representation.