The Black Atlantic Reconsidered : Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past

A survey of English and French black Canadian writing and its transnational connections from the eighteenth century to the present. Winner of the Gabrielle Roy Prize, Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures (2015). Readers are often surprised to learn that black writing in Canada is over two centuries old. Ranging from letters, editorials, sermons, and slave narratives to contemporary novels, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, black Canadian writing represents a rich body of literary and cultural achievement. The Black Atlantic Reconsidered is the first comprehensive work to explore black Canadian literature from its beginnings to the present in the broader context of the black Atlantic world. Winfried Siemerling traces the evolution of black Canadian witnessing and writing from slave testimony in New France and the 1783 "Book of Negroes" through the work of contemporary black Canadian writers including George Elliott Clarke, Austin Clarke, Dionne Brand, David Chariandy, Wayde Compton, Esi Edugyan, Marlene NourbeSe Philip, and Lawrence Hill. Arguing that black writing in Canada is deeply imbricated in a historic transnational network, Siemerling explores the powerful presence of black Canadian history, slavery, and the Underground Railroad, and the black diaspora in the work of these authors. Individual chapters examine the literature that has emerged from Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Prairies, and British Columbia, with attention to writing in both English and French. A major survey of black writing and cultural production, The Black Atlantic Reconsidered brings into focus important works that shed light not only on Canada's literature and history, but on the transatlantic black diaspora and modernity. Over two centuries old, and ranging from letters, editorials, sermons, and slave narratives to contemporary novels, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, black Canadian writing represents a rich body of literary and cultural achievement. The Black Atlantic Reconsidered is the first comprehensive work to explore black Canadian literature from its beginnings to the present in the broader context of the black Atlantic world. Winfried Siemerling traces the evolution of black Canadian witnessing and writing from slave testimony in New France and the 1783 "Book of Negroes" through the work of contemporary black Canadian writers including George Elliott Clarke, Austin Clarke, Dionne Brand, David Chariandy, Wayde Compton, Esi Edugyan, Marlene NourbeSe Philip, and Lawrence Hill. Arguing that black writing in Canada is deeply imbricated in a historic transnational network, Siemerling explores the powerful presence of black Canadian history, slavery, and the Underground Railroad, and the black diaspora in the work of these authors. Individual chapters examine the literature that has emerged from Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Prairies, and British Columbia, with attention to writing in both English and French. Book jacket Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Modernity and Canadian Time-Spaces of the Black Atlantic PART I: EARLY TESTIMONY AND THE BLACK CANADIAN NINETEENTH CENTURY CHAPTER 2 Slavery and Early Black Canadian Writing CHAPTER 3 The Black Canadian Nineteenth Century PART II: THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST CHAPTER 4 Slavery, the Black Canadian Nineteenth Century, and Caribbean Contexts in Contemporary Black Canadian Writing CHAPTER 5 Other Black Canadas CHAPTER 6 Coda: Other Canadas, Other Americas, the Black Atlantic Reconsidered Appendix: Timeline Notes Works Cited Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z