Consequently, her narrative did not fit the pattern of the "authentic" (male) narrative.
Moreover, instead of following a strictly chronological pattern, Jacobs often interrupts her narrative to address social or political issues such as the church and slavery or the impact of the Fugitive Slave Law on runaways. In contrast, Jacobs' narrative focuses on "incidents" in her life. Male narratives generally followed a strictly chronological format, focusing on the narrator's life as he relates the story of his journey from slavery to freedom. In contrast, Jacobs' story - which focused primarily on her family - was viewed as less important than the stories of her male counterparts. The majority of slave narratives were written by men who documented their daring escapes and heroic actions, many of whom - such as Frederick Douglass - went on to become spokespersons or political leaders. Because the publication of Incidents coincided with the beginning of the Civil War, it was seen as being published too late to have any social or political impact. The primary goal of slave narratives was to arouse sympathy among whites and gain their support for the anti-slavery movement led by abolitionists. Its stranger-than-fiction account of a woman who spends seven years hiding in her grandmother's attic to escape her master's insatiable lust seemed too fantastic to be believed. The narrative's formal, sometimes melodramatic style that emulates the style of 19th century romantic novels seemed totally inappropriate for its "delicate" subject matter: the sexual abuse of enslaved black women. Instead, the narrative was published under the pseudonym "Linda Brent." Unlike conventional slave narratives, Incidents does not acknowledge Harriet Jacobs as its author. Scholars who dismissed the work as a fictional slave narrative often pointed out issues such as the following. (The second edition is scheduled for release in April 2000.) In addition to her efforts to establish the authenticity of Jacobs' narrative, Yellin also brought Incidents to the attention of readers, scholars, and critics who had long ignored or dismissed the work because it failed to meet the standards of the male slave narrative, as defined by male critics such as Robert Stepto and James Olney. The most complete and comprehensive version of the narrative is the 1987 Harvard University Press edition, edited by Jacobs' biographer, Jean Fagan Yellin, a professor at New York's Pace University. Since then, several editions of Incidents have been published. As such, it is often cited as the counterpart to the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself.įirst published in 1861, Incidents was "discovered" in the 1970s and reprinted in 19. Although generally ignored by critics, who often dismissed Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself as a fictionalized account of slavery, the work is heralded today as the first book-length narrative by an ex-slave that reveals the unique brutalities inflicted on enslaved women. With these words, Harriet Jacobs, speaking through her narrator, Linda Brent, reveals her reasons for deciding to make her personal story of enslavement, degradation, and sexual exploitation public. I do it to kindle a flame of compassion in your hearts for my sisters who are still in bondage." "Reader it is not to awaken sympathy for myself that I am telling you truthfully what I suffered.
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About Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
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