Scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. observes that "fact and fiction have always exerted a reciprocal effect on each other" ("Authenticity" 29). Authors of neo-slave narratives â postmodern renderings of the slave experience â illustrate this reciprocation as they engage in the inventive (re)telling of historical events from the privileged vantage of the present. This study examines the role imagination plays in reconstructing a marginalized, forgotten past. Additionally, this study discerns the neo-testimonial patterns â the narrative techniques inspired by the languages, experiences, and memories of the African diaspora â that the neo-slave narrative authors employ as they merge history with imagination in the creation of a fictionalized history. Although critics have already noted the existing relationship between history and fiction in these narratives, how authors finesse the line between history and imagination deserves closer examination. This study looks carefully primarily at Ishmael Reed's Flight to Canada, Sherley Anne Williams' Dessa Rose, Toni Morrison's Beloved, Octavia Butler's Kindred, and David Bradley's The Chaneysville Incident. By examining the dynamics of the commingling of history and imagination in these narratives, this study contributes to an understanding of the role of rememory and/or embellishment in the neo-slave narrative (sub)genre. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / July 2, 2007. / Ishmael Reed, Sherley Anne Williams, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, David Bradley, Neo-Testimony, Slavery, Neo-Slave Narratives / Includes bibliographical references. / Maxine L. Montgomery, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine D. Jones, Outside Committee Member; Dennis Moore, Committee Member; Darryl Dickson-Carr, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_175640 |
| Contributors | Wholuba, Anita P. (authoraut), Montgomery, Maxine L. (professor directing dissertation), Jones, Maxine D. (outside committee member), Moore, Dennis (committee member), Dickson-Carr, Darryl (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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