Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797)
Auteur de Ma véridique histoire - Africain, esclave en Amérique, Homme libre
A propos de l'auteur
One of the most remarkable figures in the history of African literature is Olaudah Equiano, who is also known as Gustavus Vassa. He was born into an Igbo community that he called Essaka, or most probably Isieke, in what is now the Ihiala local government area of the Anambra State of Nigeria. afficher plus Captured and sold into slavery at the age of 12, he was taken to the West Indies. There he was resold to a British naval officer who helped him acquire an education and some nautical experience. When Equiano was beginning to consider himself a free man, he was unexpectedly sold again to a Philadelphia trader, for whom he undertook business trips to the West Indies. These trips enabled Equiano to make enough money to buy his freedom. As a free man, Equiano continued his vocation as a sailor and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He eventually joined the abolitionist movement in Great Britain, where he settled down as a respectable African European, married an English woman, and had two children. Equiano moved in high social circles, wrote and spoke frequently in various public media on abolition issues, and petitioned the British Parliament on the evils of slavery. But by far his most important contribution to the abolition movement was his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, which was first published in London in 1789. Not only was The Interesting Narrative an eloquent diatribe against the evils of slavery; its early chapters presented a thoroughly idyllic picture of the culture, social life, and geographical environment of his Igbo home, which he describes as "a charming, fruitful vale." In the autobiography, Equiano refutes the detractions of African peoples in European and oriental literatures, religious dogmas, and philosophical and ethnographic writings. He emerges as the first spokesperson of pan-African nationalism, black consciousness, negritude, and a whole range of other contemporary African and African American intellectual movements. The Narrative is a mixture of factual ethnographic and historical details, debatable assertions, and outright fallacies; it is as mystifying as it is revealing. So powerful is its eighteenth-century rhetorical style that, despite the assertion in its title that it was "written by himself," few of his white contemporaries were convinced that such elegant prose and humane sentiments could be written by an African. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
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Œuvres de Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) (1998) 604 exemplaires
The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano [Norton Critical Edition] (1789) 129 exemplaires
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States From W. H. Taft to G. W. Bush / The Life of Olaudah Equinao… (2004) 2 exemplaires
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself.… 1 exemplaire
Rare Antique Americanization of Edward Bok Memoir Lakeside Press Sealed [Hardcover] Olaudah Equiano 1 exemplaire
The Tinderbox (Little Black Classics) by Hans Christian Andersen (26-Feb-2015) Paperback 1 exemplaire
Equiano's Travels The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African by… 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1 (1990) — Contributeur, quelques éditions — 256 exemplaires
American Sea Writing: A Literary Anthology (Library of America) (2000) — Contributeur — 232 exemplaires
American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation (2012) — Contributeur — 122 exemplaires
Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves as Told By Themselves (2005) — Contributeur — 95 exemplaires
The Penguin Book of Migration Literature: Departures, Arrivals, Generations, Returns (2019) — Contributeur — 72 exemplaires
I Was Born a Slave: An Anthology of Classic Slave Narratives: Volume One, 1770-1849 (1999) — Contributeur — 43 exemplaires
Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century (1996) — Contributeur — 41 exemplaires
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributeur — 29 exemplaires
Early Black British Writing: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, and Others (2003) — Contributeur — 9 exemplaires
Slave Narrative (Six Pack 1)- Uncle Tom's Cabin, Twelve Years A Slave, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation,… (2015) — Contributeur — 7 exemplaires
Voices From Slavery: The Life and Beliefs of African Slaves in Britain (2007) — Contributeur — 2 exemplaires
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Autres noms
- Vassa, Gustavus
Weston, Gustavus - Date de naissance
- 1745
- Date de décès
- 1797-03-31
- Lieu de sépulture
- Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London, England, UK
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- Kingdom of Dahomey
- Pays (pour la carte)
- Nigeria
- Lieu de naissance
- Essaka, Kingdom of Dahomey (now Nigeria)
- Lieu du décès
- London, England, UK
- Lieux de résidence
- Essaka, Kingdom of Dahomey (now Nigeria)
Barbados
Virginia, British America
London, England
Montserrat
Mosquito Coast (tout afficher 8)
Soham, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Sierra Leone - Professions
- writer
merchant
explorer
sailor
plantation manager - Organisations
- Sons of Africa
London Corresponding Society - Courte biographie
- Olaudah Equiano was born to a noble family in the African kingdom of Benin in approximately 1745. While still a boy, he was kidnapped, enslaved, and taken to the West Indies. For the next eleven years he traveled from the Americas to Europe and through the Caribbean. After being freed in 1767, he moved to London, became an active abolitionist, and helped freed slaves settle in the African colony of Sierra Leone. In 1789 he published his best-selling autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African which served as the model for many later writers, including Frederick Douglass. He died in England in 1797, survived by his wife, Susanna Cullen, and their two daughters. [from The Kidnapped Prince , an adaptation of his autobiography by Ann Cameron. (2005)]
Membres
Critiques
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah… par Olaudah Equiano
A remarkable book, both because of the vivid and startling story Olaudah Equiano relates, and because for an 18th century text by a writer steeped in the King James' version of the Bible it is an unusually easy read. About half the book covers Equiano's experience of slavery, from capture as a child, movement across Africa to the coast where he was put on a slave ship, the Atlantic crossing, then his experiences in North America and the Caribbean as an enslaved man. Equiano seems not opposed to slavery, but felt that as practised in his homeland it was more humane than by white men in the plantations, and he campaigned for the Altantic trade to stop (which would be achieved a decade after his death). When he is finally able to free himself from chattel slavery, by paying his owner £40 (perhaps £6,000 in 2024), he is clearly safer in the West, yet kept returning by ship to the Americas, each time to be abused as if still a slave. I ended up asking myself why on earth he kept returning, once he'd worked out that the typical white man involved in a the plantation economy was likely to be a scoundrel. I am probably less interested in ships and marine engagements than the author was, although he opens a window on the maritime and trading world of the period, and the expedition to Spitzbergen in search of the North East Passage is fascinating.… (plus d'informations)
Okay... This was brilliant. Equiano (Vassa?) is an utterly fascinating historical figure and man, and his story is thrilling. Sold into slavery as a child, Equiano, by the providence of God, was spared the brutality of North American farm labor and consequential obscurity. Bought by a smattering of high-ranking British captains, Equiano was taught to read, allowed to practice Christianity, and generally live a very free life (not counting some particularly bad owners), eventually buying his freedom and continuing his journey around the world. He charts his adventures traveling the world, the many injustices he must encounter, and the Christianity that was his bedrock. You just feel with him.
There is a lot of heartbreak in this account. How could there not? One thing I will recognize informs my high esteem of this story is the religious tone it uses. Equiano was what we'd call a true believer, and it's one more layer of interesting given the broader imperialism of Christianity. I implore the less religiously inclined to not fault him; I think it is incredibly dehumanizing to question this too much. His Christianity gave him strength, gave him a strong moral compass to battle for the abolition of the slave trade, and allowed him many great connections in a world where being black could be so tenuous. His Christianity was truly beautiful and made me yearn for church once more—Crazy how good, upstanding people can convert, no?
On a side note, the more I read 18th-century writing, the more I really think the period of the 1770s-1790s was the pinnacle of the written English word. The command of language Equiano employs is exquisite and commanding, and really quite arresting when relaying his life. It's a bit similar to how Du Bois' utilizes language a century later—both men show the "mental faculties" so many suppose they can't have on account of their skin.
Anyway, I can't recommend this enough. It's just... amazing. Equiano is a fascinating man caught between two worlds, and while his 18th-century Britishness can raise an eyebrow sometimes, it illustrates the breadth of thought of the period. I just spent an hour on York University's webpage about him, and I can't get enough. Ah!… (plus d'informations)
There is a lot of heartbreak in this account. How could there not? One thing I will recognize informs my high esteem of this story is the religious tone it uses. Equiano was what we'd call a true believer, and it's one more layer of interesting given the broader imperialism of Christianity. I implore the less religiously inclined to not fault him; I think it is incredibly dehumanizing to question this too much. His Christianity gave him strength, gave him a strong moral compass to battle for the abolition of the slave trade, and allowed him many great connections in a world where being black could be so tenuous. His Christianity was truly beautiful and made me yearn for church once more—Crazy how good, upstanding people can convert, no?
On a side note, the more I read 18th-century writing, the more I really think the period of the 1770s-1790s was the pinnacle of the written English word. The command of language Equiano employs is exquisite and commanding, and really quite arresting when relaying his life. It's a bit similar to how Du Bois' utilizes language a century later—both men show the "mental faculties" so many suppose they can't have on account of their skin.
Anyway, I can't recommend this enough. It's just... amazing. Equiano is a fascinating man caught between two worlds, and while his 18th-century Britishness can raise an eyebrow sometimes, it illustrates the breadth of thought of the period. I just spent an hour on York University's webpage about him, and I can't get enough. Ah!… (plus d'informations)
Hakim Adi's selection of writings about Britain (mainly England) by Black people of the late 18th to the early 20th century is carefully chosen to establish their presence in all strata of society at a date earlier than certain commentators would wish it known. There's a thread showing the development of abolitionism into emancipation into supremacism to justify the continued exploitation of Black Labour, and Adi's selections often strongly resonate with current issues, such as the Windrush scandal and the illegal Tory Rwanda deportation policy.
There's also many fascinating glimpses into Georgian and Victorian society and, while varying degrees of racism are noted, many of the impressions of visitors to the island are positive about their reception and of the culture in which they find themselves.
A nuanced and balanced selection of historical testimonies which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, not least the short section on John Ocansey's day trip from Liverpool to my home town of Southport 🏖️… (plus d'informations)
There's also many fascinating glimpses into Georgian and Victorian society and, while varying degrees of racism are noted, many of the impressions of visitors to the island are positive about their reception and of the culture in which they find themselves.
A nuanced and balanced selection of historical testimonies which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, not least the short section on John Ocansey's day trip from Liverpool to my home town of Southport 🏖️… (plus d'informations)
Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy his freedom. His autobiography, published in 1789, was a bestseller in its own time. Cameron has modernized and shortened it while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It's a gripping story of adventure, betrayal, cruelty, and courage. In searing scenes, Equiano describes the savagery of his capture, the appalling conditions on the slave ship, the auction, and the forced labor. . . . Kids will read this young man's story on their own; it will also enrich curriculum units on history and on writing.
-Amazon description… (plus d'informations)
-Amazon description… (plus d'informations)
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 20
- Aussi par
- 18
- Membres
- 3,904
- Popularité
- #6,486
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 38
- ISBN
- 153
- Langues
- 5
- Favoris
- 1