Representations of Racial Identity in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative

Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Wallace, Miriam

Keywords

Oroonoko, Equiano, Olaudah, Behn, Aphra, Abolition

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative belong to the same lineage of abolitionist thought. Behn's novel, published in 1688, can be seen as the origin of abolitionist discourse. Equiano's 1789 Narrative builds on the ground Behn helped lay, showing one hundred years of development of both the slave trade and the idea of race-based thinking. A key to understanding the way these texts function as abolitionist works lies in understanding their main characters' relationship to the developing idea of "blackness" as a race-identity. In Oroonoko, the issue is complicated by Behn's entrance into the text as narrator and character, and the text's status as a work of fiction. Because of this, Oroonoko must be examined as a work of both history and literature, meaning that Behn's motivation for and execution of the story must be examined. Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative is also complicated by fiction, as evidence exists to suggest that the story he provides of his African birth is untrue. Equiano's Narrative can be viewed as a consciously manipulated effort to gain support for the abolitionist cause, which has become an important social and political issue in the hundred years between Behn and Equiano.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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