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slave narrative
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Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano, from the frontispiece of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (1789).

slave narrative

American literature
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Written by
William L. Andrews
E. Maynard Adams Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Co-editor of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature and The Oxford Companion to African American...
William L. Andrews
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slave narrative, an account of the life, or a major portion of the life, of a fugitive or former slave, either written or orally related by the slave personally. Slave narratives comprise one of the most influential traditions in American literature, shaping the form and themes of some of the most celebrated and controversial writing, both in fiction and in autobiography, in the history of the United States. The vast majority of American slave narratives were authored by African Americans, but African-born Muslims who wrote in Arabic, the Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano, and a handful of white American sailors ...(100 of 972 words)

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