African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and Reason

(Hardback)

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The 18th century was a time of great cultural change in Britain. It was a period of exploration, in which adventurers journeyed to the New World, Africa and the Orient, and these voyages were reflected in contemporary travel literature. It was also a period in which 17th-century empiricism and the scientific method became dominant, and in which society became increasingly secular. Fundamental to the 18th-century world view was the prominence of the Great Chain of Being, in which all creatures and their Creator stood in a hierarchical relationship to one another. With voyages to Africa becoming more common, blacks were brought to Britain as slaves. These Africans living in Britain sometimes wrote about their place in society, and Whites debated the place of the black slaves within the hierarchy of the universe. This book examines representations of blacks in British literature to illuminate how society viewed blacks during the 18th century. Included are discussions of major canonical writers such as Pope, Swift and Sterne, along with discussions of works by African-British writers such as James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano.

Reviews

[T]his book will be valuable as a point of entry to the African-British writers of the Enlightenment, writers whose position gave them a unique vantage of point for offering a critique of Enlightenment.-Studies in English Literature
This dual goal of exploring the discourse on race of an entire century and of exploring how selected texts participate in that discourse on race is an ambitious one, but it is one that Woodward...meets admirably....African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century is a compelling and convincing examination of the writings of emancipated Africans....There is a great deal of interest in this book, whether for those interested in development of race as a discourse, for those interested in in the early writings of Africans living in Europe, for those interested in slave-narratives, or those interested in readings of canonical English texts in light of the realities of racism and slavery.-H-NET
Woodard provides a lucid, learned, sensible introduction to the intersection between the traditional canon and African British writing. Moving in her first chapter from a brief discussion of Enlightenment theories of race to Pope and the Great Chain of Being, Woodard establishes some important intellectual contexts for the African British writers who afterward broke into print and established what Toni Morrison would call a black presence in the English literary marketplace.... And an introductory book is exactly right for this emerging field at this time. Woodward deftly weaves certain concepts from postcolonial theory with insights from scholarship on African American literature and the most sophisticated theories of race. The relevant and comprehensive critical, historical, and theoretical material included in substantial footnotes and bibliography is invaluable.-Choice
"This book will be valuable as a point of entry to the African-British writers of the Enlightenment, writers whose position gave them a unique vantage of point for offering a critique of Enlightenment."-Studies in English Literature
"[T]his book will be valuable as a point of entry to the African-British writers of the Enlightenment, writers whose position gave them a unique vantage of point for offering a critique of Enlightenment."-Studies in English Literature
"This dual goal of exploring the discourse on race of an entire century and of exploring how selected texts participate in that discourse on race is an ambitious one, but it is one that Woodward...meets admirably....African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century is a compelling and convincing examination of the writings of emancipated Africans....There is a great deal of interest in this book, whether for those interested in development of race as a discourse, for those interested in in the early writings of Africans living in Europe, for those interested in slave-narratives, or those interested in readings of canonical English texts in light of the realities of racism and slavery."-H-NET
"Woodard provides a lucid, learned, sensible introduction to the intersection between the traditional canon and African British writing. Moving in her first chapter from a brief discussion of Enlightenment theories of race to Pope and the Great Chain of Being, Woodard establishes some important intellectual contexts for the African British writers who afterward broke into print and established what Toni Morrison would call a black presence in the English literary marketplace.... And an introductory book is exactly right for this emerging field at this time. Woodward deftly weaves certain concepts from postcolonial theory with insights from scholarship on African American literature and the most sophisticated theories of race. The relevant and comprehensive critical, historical, and theoretical material included in substantial footnotes and bibliography is invaluable."-Choice

Author Bio

HELENA WOODARD is Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, where she specializes in eighteenth-century British literature and culture, and in African American literature.