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Rethinking the Slave Narrative Slave Marriage and the Narratives of Henry Bibb and William and Ellen Craft
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Charles J. Heglar
ISBN: 0-313-31875-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31875-7
184 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 5/30/2001
List Price: $110.95 (UK Sterling Price: £76.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: The African American slave narrative is popularly viewed as the story of a lone male's flight from slavery to freedom, best exemplified by the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845). On the other hand, critics have also given much attention to Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), to indicate how the form could have been different if more women had written in it. But in stressing the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs as models for the genre, scholars have ignored the formal and thematic importance of marriage and family in the slave narrative, since neither author explores slave marriage in their works.

This book examines the central role of marriage in The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave (1849) and Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (1860). Bibb's slave wife and child account for significant innovations in the form and content of his narrative, while the Crafts' mutual dependence as a married couple results in a sustained use of dramatic irony. The volume closes by offering a thoughtful consideration of the influence of Bibb and the Crafts on the later fiction of Douglass, William Wells Brown, and Martin Delany. In doing so, it invites a critical reexamination of current assumptions about slave narratives.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction
    The Slave Narrative Genre
    The Narrative of Recursion: Slave Marriage and Henry Bibb
    The Narrative of Collaboration: Slave Marriage and William and Ellen Craft
    Ante-bellum African American Fiction
    Conclusion
    Bibliography
    Index
About the Author: CHARLES J. HEGLAR is Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Florida./e His articles have appeared in such journals as ANQ, Armchair Detective, CrossRoads, Thackeray Newsletter, and the CLA Journal. He has also published an edition of The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave (2000).
LCC Class: 305
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