Download
1 / 7
70 likes | 74 Views
Olaudah Equiano's autobiography is a remarkable achievement in the genre of slave narratives. It provides vivid details of his kidnapping, enslavement, and eventual freedom, while also highlighting the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade. This bestselling book serves as an important historical document and helped further the abolitionist cause.
E N D
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)
Olaudah Equiano • Among the tradition of slave narratives, Equiano's is considered a remarkable achievement since the autobiographical style was not a well-developed genre in the eighteenth century. • His narrative has vivid and concrete details and is written in the picaresque style. • Equiano also provides a detailed account of his kidnapping, his trek through the jungles, his arrival at the sea coast, and the arduous crossing of the Atlantic in the belly of a slave ship.
Olaudah Equiano • Kidnapped from his African (Nigeria) village at age 11 • Spent some time in the West Indies • Sold to a Virginia planter • Bought by a British naval Officer, Captain Pascal
Olaudah Equiano • After ten years of enslavement, bought his freedom. • In 1789 at age 44,he wrote and published his strongly abolitionist autobiography: • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself • One of the first works written in English by a former slave. • The book became a bestseller and, as well as furthering the anti-slavery cause, made Equiano a wealthy man
Slave Narrative Slavery Escape Freedom Spiritual Autobiography Sin Conversion Spiritual rebirth Olaudah Equiano Spiritual autobiography 3-part structure was used to form the new genre of the slave narrative.
