23/09/2020
OLAUDAH EQUIANO
His work as written between the colonial period and the early republic one. It is an IN BETWEEN text
because it’s in between the middle passage and the black Atlantic. This slave narrative has no centre, but
we have marginality, almost invisibility; even the war of independence is invisible.
This is an autobiography of a black man born in Africa and then sold and resold.
Documents have been discovered which suggested that Equiano may have been born in North Carolina, he
may have made up the story preceding his arrival in America.
The middle passage is based on memories or reading of other authors or on testimonies, or it’s a
combination of the two. Even though the first part didn’t happen, it was anyway another man’s story. This
narrative is crucial because it influence the following ones, but it was also influenced by previous narratives
and literature the structure has been influenced by travel narrative of explorers. He also read essays and
documents, this how he gained so many information. A third document is probably the autobiographies he
may had read.
There are elements in common with M.Rowlandson: he mention Providence like her, he talks to God, he
wrote the story because was chosen by God ( there is a sort of puritan background). Spiritual
autobiography is always a model for Equiano.
The story is decentred, it is a result between contact of cultures and continent. The period in which slavery
extended the most is from 1789 to 1836. Slavery expended after the years of Equiano. In these years the
usa searched a sort of compromise.
Equiano said to be born in Nigeria, he grows up among Ibo people (tribal). He was kidnapped at the age of
11 and sold. He was renamed few times. An English man rename him Gustavo Bassa (a name of a Swedish
king). The man wanted him to have his name, Equiano was not able to choose the name. This gentleman
brough him to England where he attended a school and he was bitesize. He started to think to be able to
gain his freedom through education e religion. Then the English man decided to sell him. He realises to be
just a good in an economic system. Then he started working on ships. By trading Equiano is able to earn
some money and he was able to buy his freedom. He asked his master to be able to pay himself back. He
wanted to return to England to work as hairdresser, but he forced to restart working as a sailor. He married
an English woman.
THE NARRATIVE:
It’s built on a series of journeys:
The first part is in Africa and it can be divided in 3 stage: the first part is the travels among similar tribes),
second part is the journey by water ( he is transported on a river, where he sees the first signs of white
civilization and moral corruption non si lavano le mani, non sono circoncisi). Third part is when he
reached the shores, he sees the ships and white men. His narrative is made of shorts period on the land and
vary long journey on the sea. Most of his life has been spent aboard. Map on slides: his journeys was quite
impressive, he travelled a lot.
It was important for him to prove that his work was a true story and in order to do this, there are several
elements of the text quite common in slave narratives:
In The Front Page we have the Title, Picture and Quotes from the Bible. Then we have the Preface.
In the front page there is a picture (we have a face the narrative has an owner), also the title
(NARRATIVE, LIFE, EQUIANO/GUSTAVO), we have also the quotes from the bible (behold god is my
salvation).
Then there is the preface and the dedications that prove the story to be true (the document id dedicated to
the parliament of GB). He asks white people to certified that the story is true.
