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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs author Valerie Smith editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:29th Aug '91

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl cover

One of hundreds of slave narratives published just before the Civil War, this account is unique in that it is written by a woman. This offers a different, perhaps more realistic, perspective on slave experience than that presented in the more typical `heroic' male narrative. The work is notable for its blending and manipulation of several narrative techniques, including those of the sentimental novel, of autobiography, and of the classical slave narrative.

"A viable alternative to male save narratives. The specific problems faced by female slaves are clearly portrayed."--Ray Doyle, West Chester Univ. "My personal favorite...Jacobs confronts the contradictions inherent in the category 'the black woman writer.' By engaging these issues and negotiating a course through them, she anticipates the literary and ideological position of subsequent generations of black women writers."--Jean Fagan Yellin, The Washington Post Book World "A corrective to those who have identified the slave narrative primarily as a male genre....This particular edition, with its introduction by Valerie Smith, sheds new light on the choices its heroine Linda Brent makes."--The Women's Review of Books "A viable alternative to male slave narratives. The specific problems faced by female slaves are clearly portrayed."--Ray Doyle, West Chester University "My personal favorite...Jacobs confronts the contradictions inherent in the category 'the black woman writer.' By engaging these issues and negotiating a course through them, she anticipates the literary and ideological position of subsequent generations of black women writers."--Jean Fagan Yellin, The Washington Post Book World "A corrective to those who have identified the slave narrative primarily as a male genre....This particular edition, with its introduction by Valerie Smith, sheds new light on the choices its heroine Linda Brent makes."--The Women's Review of Books

ISBN: 9780195066708

Dimensions: 215mm x 142mm x 21mm

Weight: 449g

352 pages