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Writing from the Center or the Margins? Olaudah Equiano’s Writing Life Reassessed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Samantha Manchester Earley
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Abstract:

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This article is a literary analysis of the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. It examines Equiano’s use of multiple discursive and rhetorical strategies in order to move the self of his slave narrator from “marginal” to “central” status in the international debate over slavery. The essay focuses on Equiano’s understanding of morality as a multicultural framework and his application of Christian rhetoric in explaining it. The main argument is that his search for religious understanding and his experiential knowledge allowed him to move between cultural “centers” and cultural “margins” while speaking with an authoritative voice against slavery.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article propose une analyse littéraire de l’autobiographie de Olaudah Equiano, ou Gustavus Vassa, l’africain. Nous examinons l’utilisation faite par Equiano de stratégies discursives et rhétoriques multiples destinées à déplacer le moi de son narrateur esclave d’un statut “marginal” à un statut “central” dans le débat international sur l’esclavage. Cet essai se concentre sur la compréhension de la moralité chez Equiano comme phénomène multiculturel, et sur son application de la rhétorique chrétienne dans l’explication de ce phénomène. L’argument principal est que sa recherche de compréhension religieuse et sa connaissance empirique du monde lui permettent de se déplacer entre des “centres de culture” et des “marges de culture” tout en s’élevant contre l’esclavage d’une voix qui fait autorité.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , December 2003 , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2003

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