Friday, October 27, 2006
Olaudah Equiano
Katja
ENGL 48A
Journal #7
October 27, 2006
"This kingdom was divided into many provinces or districts [...] situated in the charming and fruitful vale, named Essaka." (Olaudah Equiano 749)
"The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the necessaries of life [...]." (Samuel Johnson 2680)
I have chosen to open with two quotes, one from this week’s text, and for comparison, one from ENGL 46B, my English literature class. The Equiano quote is from the 1789 edition of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, whereas the Johnson quote is from his 1759 work The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Here, Johnson’s text will function as a foil, a literary trend to keep in mind, for Equiano’s account of his experiences.
Both quotes promise the reader exotic tales of Africa set in an abundant Eden, however Equiano’s quote is a supposed first hand account compared to Johnson’s fictitious tale. By creating a luscious setting, Equiano brings the reader "home" with him, to a land that only exists in his memory, if at all, and Johnson creates a fantasy image for the benefit of his audience.
The importance of the virgin nature of the land cannot be overlooked, where it comes to represent a state of being that has been forever changed. In Equiano’s work it functions as a balance to the grim atrocities of his experiences as a slave, as divulged to the reader later on. His image of pure and unadulterated landscapes is a metaphor for the state of African tribes before their societies, cultures and people were brutally raped by white men seeking fortune in human commerce, where innocence gets replaced with the stark realization of experience.
The Interesting Narrative shows the drift toward the pathos of the natural world in later Transcendentalist literature. Its allure was indeed strong among the first generations of American writers, who allowed themselves to be deeply inspired and connected to the lands of the New World. Even though Equiano’s passion is for African lands, his sentiment is groundbreaking in terms of American literary tradition. The common denominator between Equiano and later American writers is the history of being uprooted and placed in a newly formed society. Not many people had deep roots in the colonies, perhaps only a few generations at most, and this may have influenced a strong connection to nature as a reaction to constant change.
I found the connections between an English writer writing about Abyssinia, a place he had never seen, and a translocated freed slave writing about a place he might have barely remembered, interesting. The similarities in the text are at times striking, if only because the two writers come from such opposite backgrounds.
Sources: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th Ed.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen, Eds.
Johnson, Samuel. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. p. 2679-2712
ENGL 48A
Journal #7
October 27, 2006
"This kingdom was divided into many provinces or districts [...] situated in the charming and fruitful vale, named Essaka." (Olaudah Equiano 749)
"The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the necessaries of life [...]." (Samuel Johnson 2680)
I have chosen to open with two quotes, one from this week’s text, and for comparison, one from ENGL 46B, my English literature class. The Equiano quote is from the 1789 edition of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, whereas the Johnson quote is from his 1759 work The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Here, Johnson’s text will function as a foil, a literary trend to keep in mind, for Equiano’s account of his experiences.
Both quotes promise the reader exotic tales of Africa set in an abundant Eden, however Equiano’s quote is a supposed first hand account compared to Johnson’s fictitious tale. By creating a luscious setting, Equiano brings the reader "home" with him, to a land that only exists in his memory, if at all, and Johnson creates a fantasy image for the benefit of his audience.
The importance of the virgin nature of the land cannot be overlooked, where it comes to represent a state of being that has been forever changed. In Equiano’s work it functions as a balance to the grim atrocities of his experiences as a slave, as divulged to the reader later on. His image of pure and unadulterated landscapes is a metaphor for the state of African tribes before their societies, cultures and people were brutally raped by white men seeking fortune in human commerce, where innocence gets replaced with the stark realization of experience.
The Interesting Narrative shows the drift toward the pathos of the natural world in later Transcendentalist literature. Its allure was indeed strong among the first generations of American writers, who allowed themselves to be deeply inspired and connected to the lands of the New World. Even though Equiano’s passion is for African lands, his sentiment is groundbreaking in terms of American literary tradition. The common denominator between Equiano and later American writers is the history of being uprooted and placed in a newly formed society. Not many people had deep roots in the colonies, perhaps only a few generations at most, and this may have influenced a strong connection to nature as a reaction to constant change.
I found the connections between an English writer writing about Abyssinia, a place he had never seen, and a translocated freed slave writing about a place he might have barely remembered, interesting. The similarities in the text are at times striking, if only because the two writers come from such opposite backgrounds.
Sources: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th Ed.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen, Eds.
Johnson, Samuel. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. p. 2679-2712
# posted by Katja @ 9:12 AM 
