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In 1861, Harriet Jacobs became the first formerly enslaved African
American woman to publish a book-length account of her life. In
crafting her coming-of-age story, she insisted upon biographical
accuracy and bold creativity telling the truth while giving herself
and others fictionalized names. She also adapted conventions from
other popular genres, the sentimental novel and the slave
narrative. Then, despite facing obstacles not encountered by Black
men and white women, she orchestrated the book's publication and
became a traveling bookseller in an effort to inspire passive
Americans to support the abolition of slavery.Engaging with the
latest research on Jacobs's life and work, this edition helps
readers to understand the enormity of Jacobs's achievement in
writing, publishing, and distributing her life story. However, it
also shows how this monumental accomplishment was only the
beginning of her contributions, given her advocacy work over the
nearly forty years that she lived after its publication. As a
survivor of sexual abuse who became an advocate, Jacobs laid a
foundation for activist movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and
#MeToo. This edition also features six appendices, placing
resources at readers' fingertips that further illuminate the issues
raised by Jacobs's remarkable life and legacy.
This autobiographical account by a former slave is one of the few extant narratives written by a woman. Written and published in 1861, it delivers a powerful, unflinching portrayal of the brutality of slave life. Jacobs speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in an amazing and inspirational account of one woman's dauntless spirit and faith.
Jacobs' classic narrative, written between 1853 and 1858 and published in 1861, is a haunting evocative recounting of her life as a slave in North Carolina, and of her final escape and emancipation.
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two
most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an
enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass
became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his
narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of
slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet
Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents
in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most
comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman.
Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African
American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These
narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes
an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive
annotations.
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
This Norton Critical Edition includes: The first edition (1861),
with the editors' explanatory annotations, introduction, and
glossary of the people of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Three illustrations. Key public statements by Harriet Jacobs,
William C. Nell, the Reverend Francis J. Grimke, and others. A rich
selection of correspondence by Harriet Jacobs, Lydia Maria Child,
and John Greenleaf Whittier, suggesting Incidents's initial
reception. Ten major critical essays, six of them new to the Second
Edition. A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography. About the Series
Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton
Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for
undergraduate readers. The three-part format-annotated text,
contexts, and criticism-helps students to better understand,
analyze, and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range
of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in
digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources
students need.
200th Anniversary Edition
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs Writing as Linda Brent
""It has been painful to me, in many ways, to recall the dreary
years I passed in bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could.
Yet the retrospection is not altogether without solace; for with
these gloomy recollections come tender memories of my good old
grandmother, like light fleecy clouds floating over a dark and
troubled sea.""
One of the most memorable slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs's
"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl "illustrates the overarching
evil and pervasive depravity of the institution of slavery. In
great and painful detail, Jacobs describes her life as a Southern
slave, the exploitation that haunted her daily life, her abuse by
her master, the involvement she sought with another white man in
order to escape her master, and her determination to win freedom
for herself and her children. From her seven years of hiding in a
garret that was three feet high, to her harrowing escape north to a
reunion with her children and freedom, Jacobs's "Incidents in the
Life of a Slave Girl" remains an outstanding example of one woman's
extraordinary courage in the face of almost unbeatable odds, as
well as one of the most significant testimonials in American
history.
"This may be the most important story ever written by a slave
woman, capturing as it does the gross indignities as well as the
subtler social arrangements of the time."-Kirkus Review "Of female
slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave
Girl, Written by Herself is the crowning achievement. Manifesting a
command of rhetorical and narrative strategies rivaled only by that
of Frederick Douglass, Jacobs's autobiography is one of the major
works of Afro-American literature"-Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Incidents
In the Life of a Slave Girl, the autobiography of Harriet Jacobs,
was initially written with the intention of illuminating white
abolitionists to the appalling treatment of female slaves in the
pre-Civil War South of the United States. The book was later
rediscovered in the 1960's, and it was not until the 1980s that it
was proved to be an extraordinary work of autobiographical memoir
as opposed to fiction. In this astonishing book, Harriet Jacobs
uses the pseudonym of Linda Brent to recount her story as a slave,
a mother, and her eventual escape to the north. Born into a
relatively calm life as a young child to slaves, she is taken into
the care of a kind mistress when her mother dies. Linda is taught
to read and write, and is generally treated with respect. When the
mistress passes away Linda is handed over to Dr. Flint. He is a
negligent and cruel new master who subsequently pressures Linda for
sexual favors, yet she resists his demands for years. In an attempt
to circumvent the situation, Linda enters into a relationship with
Mr. Sands, a white neighbor who ends up fathering her two children.
Expecting that she and her children will be sold to Mr. Sands, Dr.
Flint instead decides to subject them to further degradation. Linda
escapes and goes into hiding in a small attic, and her children are
eventually sold to Mr. Sand. For over seven years, Linda remains in
hiding, until she ultimately escapes North to be reunited with her
children. Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl is a devastating
yet empowering document that uniquely focuses on the psychological
and spiritual effects that bondage had on women slaves and their
families. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of Incidents in the Life of a
Slave Girl is both modern and readable.
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.
Straightforward, yet often poetic accounts of the battle for
freedom, three memoirs by courageous black women vividly chronicle
their struggles in the bonds of slavery, their rebellion against
degrading injustice, and their determination to attain racial
equality. In "Narrative of Sojourner Truth," one of the most
important documents on slavery ever written, a passionate African
American abolitionist and champion of women's rights tells of her
life as a slave, her self-liberation, and her tireless campaign for
racial and sexual equality. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"
is the 1861 autobiographical account of the brutality of slave life
by Harriet Jacobs, who speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her
eventual escape, in a tale of dauntless spirit and faith. In "The
History of Mary Prince, "the first black woman to escape from
slavery in the British colonies and publish a record of her
experiences vividly recalls her life in the West Indies, her
rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her
1828 escape in England.
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