| Notes: |
Includes bibliographical references and index The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself (1789) is one of the most frequently and heatedly discussed texts in the canon of eighteenth-century transatlantic literature written in English. Equiano's Narrative contains an engrossing account of the author's experiences in Africa, the Americas, and Europe as he sought freedom from bondage and became a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. While scholars have approached this sophisticated work from diverse critical and historical/biographical perspectives, there has been, until now, little written about the ways in which it can be successfully taught in the twenty-first-century classroom. In this collection of essays, most of them never before published, sixteen teacher-scholars focus explicitly on the various classroom contexts in which the Narrative can be assigned and various pedagogical strategies that can be used to help students understand the text and its complex cultural, intellectual, literary, and historical implications. The contributors explore topics ranging from the religious dimensions of Equiano's rhetoric and controversies about his origins, specifically whether he was actually born in Africa and endured the Middle Passage, to considerations of the Narrative's place in American Literature survey courses and how it can be productively compared to other texts, including captivity narratives and modern works of fiction. They not only suggest an array of innovative teaching models but also offer new readings of the work that have been overlooked in Equiano studies and Slavery studies. With these two dimensions, this volume will help ensure that conversations over Equiano's eighteenth-century autobiography remain relevant and engaging to today's students Part 1. Foundational Discussions on Teaching 'The Interesting Narrative'; History, Oratory, and God in Equiano's 'Interesting Narrative' -- Adam Potkay; Equiano Lite -- Srinivas Aravamudan; Domesticating Equiano's 'Interesting Narrative' -- Roxann Wheeler; Part 2. Special Topics in Teaching 'The Interesting Narrative'; Olaudah Equiano, Autobiography, and Ideas of Culture -- Sarah Brophy; Flat Equiano: A Transatlantic Approach to Teaching 'The Interesting Narrative' -- Jessica L. Hollis Finding a Home for Equiano -- Tess ChakkalakalLoving the Unstable Text and Times of Equiano's 'Narrative' : Using Carretta's Biography in the Classroom -- Emily M. N. Kugler; Part 3. Pedagogy, African American Studies, and 'The Interesting Narrative'; When Young Minds Read Equiano's 'Narrative' -- Angelo Costanzo; "Profitable Reading": Literacy, Christianity, and Constitutionalism in Olaudah Equiano's 'Interesting Narrative' -- John Saillant; Equiano and One Canon of Early African American Literature -- Phillip M. Richards; Metaphysics of Presence in Olaudah Equiano's 'Narrative' -- Cedrick May Part 4. Pedagogy, American Studies, and 'The Interesting Narrative'"Neither a Saint, a Hero, Nor a Tyrant": Teaching Equiano Comparatively -- Keri Holt; Equiano's 'Interesting Narrative' and the Difficulties of Teaching the Early American Literature Survey Course -- Michael Pringle; The Difference Teaching Equiano Makes: Notes on Teaching 'The Interesting Narrative' in the Undergraduate American Literature Survey -- Lisa M. Logan; Captives, Slaves, and Writers: Teaching 'The Narrative' of Olaudah Equiano as Captivity Narrative -- Abby Chandler Transatlantic Transformations: Olaudah Equiano's 'Narrative' and Caryl Phillips's 'Cambridge' -- Eric D. Lamore |
