Mary Prince, Slavery, and Print Culture in the Anglophone Atlantic World

This study explores a network of writers connected to the publication of The History of Mary Prince (1831), which recounts Prince's experiences as an enslaved person in the West Indies and her efforts to seek assistance from the Anti-Slavery Society in London. It focuses on the three writers who produced the text, their pro-slavery opponent, and their literary friends and relatives. The History connects the Black Atlantic with the Anglophone Atlantic and challenges Romantic ideals of authorship and the literary text as an aesthetically unified entity. Collaborating with Prince on the publication of the History influenced Moodie's and Pringle's attitudes towards slavery and shaped their own accounts of migration and settlement.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 75 pages
\n Publication date: 06 May 2021
\n Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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This comprehensive study delves into a network of writers that emerged in response to the publication of The History of Mary Prince (1831), a remarkable account of Prince's experiences as an enslaved person in the West Indies and her journey to seek assistance from the Anti-Slavery Society in London. The focus of the research lies in the three writers who collaborated on the text: Mary Prince, Thomas Pringle, and Susanna Moodie. Additionally, the study provides brief insights into their pro-slavery opponent, James MacQueen, as well as their literary friends and relatives. By examining the interconnectedness of the Black Atlantic, a diasporic formation shaped by the colonial trade in enslaved people, and the Anglophone Atlantic, created through British migration and colonial settlement, The History offers a profound exploration of the complexities of identity and cultural exchange. Moreover, it challenges the romantic notion of authorship as an autonomous creative act and the literary text as a coherent and unified entity. The collaborative process with Prince on the publication of The History had a profound impact on Moodie's and Pringle's attitudes toward slavery, shaping their own narratives of migration and settlement. Through their writings, these individuals contributed to a richer understanding of the complexities of the colonial world and the enduring legacies of slavery.

\n Weight: 136g\n
Dimension: 151 x 227 x 11 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781108791656\n \n