The Johnkannau festival of the New World seems as diverse in its origins as in its interpretations. In itself a heteroglossia of African languages and rituals re-created in the hostile environment of New World slavery, the Johnkannau has been perceived as children's amusement, godless bawdy, sacred ritual, and folk resistance. Occurring in a critical middle chapter in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs's description of the Johnkannau becomes a central trope for the multiple concerns of her slave narrative. She deliberately blends her narrating voice with this all-male raillery, suggesting Linda Brent's female appropriation of an African American trickster figure. And in this role Linda Brent enacts the ritual, undertaking – through dialogue and disguise in the narrative – diverse voices. The dance, music, and song of the festival, both in action and language, become a multidimensional medium of expression for the African American in slavery.