Upon reading excerpts from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, I couldn’t help but think about how the identity of the author, and how the author identifies themselves, affects the context of whatever work of culture that they bring into the world. Equiano didn’t define himself as African American nor Anglo American, despite spending significant parts of his life in both England and what would be the United States. Instead, he identified himself simply as “the African,” bringing about a new meaning to his narrative and affecting the ways in which it is interpreted today.
In the short biography on Equiano before the chapters, the author brought up The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, another harrowing autobiography written by a freed slave, exposing the atrocities that were bring committed against African Americans as a result of slavery. Last semester, I read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass for my statesmanship class in Jepson. As I was reading the chapters from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, I immediately noticed similarities in the horrors that both men endured as slaves, making both works truly eye opening and sobering. Why is it then, that The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is still one of the most renowned works of American literature, and Frederick Douglass himself has been immortalized into one of the most important figures in American history? Timing is important to consider here, as Equiano’s autobiography was published much earlier than Douglass’ narrative. Douglass’ campaign for abolition in conjunction with the Civil War made his message much more difficult to ignore.
I also think that it is important to consider identity, though. Douglass undoubtedly an American statesman, and the rhetoric that he used in his autobiography and his speeches was important in his lifelong fight against the institution of slavery. Equiano, however, just identified himself as “the African,” which I think significantly alters the way in which his work is read and understood in today’s context. Identity is an incredibly important factor when talking about a work of cultural resistance.
I appreciated your point about identity; specifically, how Equiano identifies himself. As soon as I began the reading, I was immediately struck by the fact that Equiano refers to himself as “the African.” By including “the,” Equiano makes a point to demonstrate his isolation yet distinguish himself. I agree that this title alters the way in which the reader interprets his work.
I appreciated your point with contrasting Douglass and Equiano in the way that they described themselves. Douglass identifying himself as a clear American versus Equiano’s “the African” description definitely helped make Douglass more well-known in the media by Americans who wanted to cling to that rhetoric that indicated his American nationalism.