the classic slave narratives henry louis gates

'The Classic Slave Narratives' is thus just a tiny part of a vast genre. Updated with the ninth edition of The Life of Olaudah Equiano, the last edition he revised and published in his lifetime. The book also contains an insightful introduction by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.As Gates notes in the introduction, it has been estimated that more than 6,000 ex-slaves left some form of written testament between 17-an amazing body of literature. These amazing stories are not only first-person histories of the highest caliber, they are also a unique literary form that has given birth to the spirit, vitality, and vision of America's modern black writers. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of America's top experts in African American studies, presents four of these classic narratives that illustrate the real nature of black experience in slavery.įascinating and powerful, this collection includes four of the best-known examples: the lives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs (alias Linda Brent), Mary Price, and Olaudah Equiano (alias Gustavus Vassa).

No group of slaves anywhere, in any other era, has left such prolific testimony to the horror of bondage and servitude. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of Americas top experts in African American studies, presents four of these classic narratives that illustrate the real nature of. Before the end of the Civil War, more than one hundred former slaves had published moving stories of their captivity and escape, joined by a similar number after the war.

The classic slave narratives henry louis gates