Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797)
Auteur van The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Over de 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. toon meer 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) toon minder
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Werken van Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) (1998) 601 exemplaren
The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano [Norton Critical Edition] (1789) 129 exemplaren
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States From W. H. Taft to G. W. Bush / The Life of Olaudah Equinao… (2004) 2 exemplaren
Rare Antique Americanization of Edward Bok Memoir Lakeside Press Sealed [Hardcover] Olaudah Equiano 1 exemplaar
The Tinderbox (Little Black Classics) by Hans Christian Andersen (26-Feb-2015) Paperback 1 exemplaar
Equiano's Travels The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African by… 1 exemplaar
The African 1 exemplaar
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Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten
- Vassa, Gustavus
Weston, Gustavus - Geboortedatum
- 1745
- Overlijdensdatum
- 1797-03-31
- Graflocatie
- Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London, England, UK
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- Kingdom of Dahomey
- Land (voor op de kaart)
- Nigeria
- Geboorteplaats
- Essaka, Kingdom of Dahomey (now Nigeria)
- Plaats van overlijden
- London, England, UK
- Woonplaatsen
- Essaka, Kingdom of Dahomey (now Nigeria)
Barbados
Virginia, British America
London, England
Montserrat
Mosquito Coast (toon alle 8)
Soham, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Sierra Leone - Beroepen
- writer
merchant
explorer
sailor
plantation manager - Organisaties
- Sons of Africa
London Corresponding Society - Korte biografie
- 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)]
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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!… (meer)