Word: slaving
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Styron, a self-proclaimed “white man from Tidewater Virginia” was widely criticized in the 1960s for The Confessions, which he wrote from the point of view of Nat Turner, a black slave who led a insurrection during the height of American slavery. Because the class had just finished a critical study of The Confessions of Nat Turner and numerous primary and secondary sources, the discussion centered primarily on the nuances of the novel and the controversy surrounding...
Styron later added, after a student had pointed out his disregard of slave spiritualism in the novel, that “there is only so much one can put in a novel.” He explained that every author must make choices when creating his protagonist and the world he inhabits. “The novel is successful in elaborating upon the character if the choices are valid. I hope that my choices add up to a mosaic that form the totality of Nat Turner,” said Styron...
...cadence and vocabulary depending on whom Nat addressed. Styron identified Turner’s narrating voice as the most peculiar in the novel, because it is an authoritarian voice, and one of “high literacy.” According to his research, “a slave of that time, wouldn’t have [used such language].” But the most importantly, he said, the novel is a translation of Nat’s thoughts; Styron firmly believes that all authors are translators, especially those writing historical novels. When questioned about who he is targeting...
Obviously, the writing of a novel is a daunting task, and Styron answered one student’s question about beginning the writing process. “After mastering the material of the time period, I felt comfortable assuming the skin of a slave in the 1800s. But I would never have tried to assume the skin of a black person in the 1960s, because I wasn’t familiar with the material of the time period.” Thus, it seems that familiarity with the subject matter is a crucial, if not the most important, step...
BLOCKED. Publication of The Wind Done Gone, a reinterpretation of Gone With the Wind told from the point of view of a slave; in Atlanta. A federal judge rejected author Alice Randall's argument that her novel was a parody, instead saying it infringed on the copyright of the original novel written by Margaret Mitchell, whose estate had sued in June to stop its publication...