Another Literary Controversy

I hope everyone is safe and healthy! I’m currently writing to you from my bedroom in Shelton, Connecticut which I’m not ecstatic about. Nevertheless, social distancing and quarantining is so important, so I’ll make it work. Moving out this week was a disaster, I’m sure many of you will agree. I hope everyone managed to get all of their stuff out and stored!

With all the chaos, I haven’t been able to make much progress with House of Earth and Blood. Unfortunately, online classes have doubled my course work, so I don’t know if I’m going to have as much time to read as I’d originally hoped. Therefore, I’m going to keep talking about school reading.

This week I had to read sections of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vasa my 18th Century British Literature class. We had some secondary reading to go along with the text on what scholars have said in the field. Equiano’s narrative starts with his birth in Africa, and eventually his experience through the Middle Passage. However, scholars have uncovered archival documents that state Equiano was born in South Carolina. The secondary source we read gave a lot of logical arguments as to why Equiano could have lied about his American birth, and honestly, I support them. For the sake of brevity, I won’t go into these arguments specifically. What I’m trying to get at is, this reminded me of American Dirt. If Equiano wasn’t actually born in Africa (which we’ll never know for sure) and he never underwent the Middle Passage, is his story valid? The circumstances of this controversy reminded me a lot of our discussion on Cummins novel, as she never lived the experience she described but made it seem like she had valid connections to it. Where does this canonical work stand? Can people lay claim to stories that aren’t their own?

I think Equiano’s narrative, whether it was all a lie, partially a lie, or complete truth, is completely valid. It has done too much good in the world that outweighs any dishonestly Equiano may have put in his narrative. The effect his work had on the abolitionist movement in Britain and on the education of students and scholars all around the world validate his story. Equiano was undeniably a slave and was undoubtedly exposed to the stories of other slaves. His narrative is founded in true experience, which I don’t think we could completely say about American Dirt. Furthermore, I do not think that American Dirt could ever have a hefty impact on its readership, as we have established it is a thrilling read for a mainly white audience.

I’m sorry for bringing up American Dirt yet again, but I really couldn’t help myself. I was fascinated by the outrage many scholars have expressed toward the conflicting information on Equiano’s birthplace, that reminded me of our response to American Dirt. I hope to next week have something new and exciting to bring to my blog, but we’ll see how the week goes!