 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Imagined Journey?
Thursday, September 8, at 1 p.m., U.S. Eastern time
Olaudah Equiano's famous first-person account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, has become the definitive version of the harrowing journey endured by slaves transported across the ocean. But what if Equiano did not make the journey?
Vincent Carretta did not set out to question Equiano's tale, but in the process of his research, he uncovered evidence in public records that Equiano actually was born in South Carolina.
What effects will Mr. Carretta's finding have on scholarship on slave narratives and the African diaspora? If Mr. Carretta is right, why would Equiano have felt the need to fabricate a key portion of his experience? Where could he have found details of African life and the deadly Middle Passage from which to borrow?
» Unraveling the Narrative (9/9/2005)
Vincent Carretta is a professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park and author of the forthcoming book, Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man (University of Georgia Press, October). His other books include scholarly editions of Equiano and of Equiano's contemporaries Ignatius Sancho, Ottobah Cugoano, and Phillis Wheatley. Last year he was a senior fellow at Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research.
Jennifer Howard (Moderator):
Hello and welcome to today's Colloquy. I'm Jennifer Howard, a staff writer here at the Chronicle. Today we'll be talking with Vincent Carretta, professor of English at the University of Maryland, about evidence he's found that Olaudah Equiano may not have been born in Africa as he claimed in his influential 1789 autobiography. You can read about the controversy in this week's Chronicle. I'm looking forward to your thoughts. Please send along your questions and reactions, and we'll get started with a comment from Mr. Carretta.
Vincent Carretta:
Over the past thirty-five years, historians, literary critics, and the general public have come to recognize the author of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (London, 1789) as one of the most accomplished English-speaking writers of African descent. It is universally accepted as the fundamental text in the genre of the slave narrative. The most frequently excerpted sections are the early chapters on his life in Africa and his experience on the Middle Passage crossing the Atlantic to America. Indeed, it is difficult to think of any historical account of the Middle Passage that does not quote his eyewitness description of its horrors as primary evidence.
Recent biographical discoveries, however, cast doubt on Equiano's story of his birth and early years. He may have invented rather than reclaimed an African identity. Baptismal and naval records say that he was born in South Carolina around 1747. If they are accurate, he invented his African upbringing and his much-quoted account of the Middle Passage on a slave ship. If so, Equiano's literary achievements have been greatly underestimated.
Question from Jonathan David Jackson, Goucher College:
From David W. Blight to Norman R. Yetman, a number of scholars within Africana Studies (broadly defined) have contributed what can reasonably be called standardized interpretations of slave narratives. When I read the nicely written article on Professor Carretta's research in the Chronicle, I asked myself the following question: What do the two most academically influential (of course arguably) scholars of slave narratives, William L. Andrews and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., think of Professor Carretta's arguments? Have these scholars offered critiques and/or affirmations? If they have not, why not?
Vincent Carretta:
Fortunately, both Professors Andrews and Gates have endorsed my forthcoming biography of Equiano, though neither may embrace all of its conclusions. Professor Gates calls it "a bold, daring, and meticulously researched recreation of the life and time of the founding father of both the African and the African American literary traditions .... one of the most significant biographies published about a black author in a very long time." Professor Andrews describes it as "an accurate, fair-minded, reliable, and engagingly written ... rewarding study."
Question from Jonathan David Jackson, Goucher College:
One more question: readers of the Chronicle who have not read Professor Carretta's published re-examinations of Equiano's birth may not know who in particular--which specific scholars--base their arguments about slave narratives on Equiano's supposed African birth. For context, please specifically describe the scholars who stake their claims on the fact that Equiano was African-born and why (once more) E.'s African birth matters to the study of slave narratives beyond providing proof for firsthand accounts of that region of Nigeria. Is that the only reason why this debate matters? Are there greater reasons why this detail of birth should shift present thinking about slave narratives? How is this debate a matter of academic reputation and the politics of scholarly recognition?
Vincent Carretta:
Complicated questions! I wouldn't say that many critics of slave narratives base their arguments about the literary tradition on Equiano's claim of an African birth. Whatever its relationship to historical fiction may be, Equiano's autobiography remains the foundational text of the later slave narrative genre because it anticipates so many of the conventions used in the later works, many of which one might add include fictional techniques for a variety of rhetorical purposes. Literary critics are far more comfortable with the possibility that Equiano may have been "creative," than many historians who have assumed his text to be transparently true. Most literary critics expect autobiographers, who are after all not writing under oath, to stretch the "truth" at least a bit.
Question from Fath Davis Ruffins, Smithsonian Institution:
Even if Equiano was born in SC, his narrative suggests that he spoke to/knew/ lived with people who had themselves experienced the Middle Passage. We believe in fictional non-fiction accounts of experiences today. In literary studies, we know that many people have shaped autobiographical accounts ( for example) in fictional terms. My question: why must we "invalidate" Equiano's text? Why can't we see it with a similar complexity to other accounts of earlier eras including such texts as Boswell's Life of Johnson or the "actual" identity of William Shakespeare? .... in other words, as having a historical specificity and grounding while also being the product of an imagination?
Vincent Carretta:
I agree with you that the possibility, if not probability, that Equiano invented some of the "facts" of his life should not "invalidate" his text. He tells us that he spoke to survivors of the Middle Passage. Even if his account of Africa and the Middle Passage may not be true in terms of his own personal experience, that account retains historical and literary value because it imaginatively gives voice to the millions of people whose personal experiences did not find their way into print.
Vincent Carretta:
However, to Nigerians, particularly Igbos, who recognize Equiano as a national hero because of the birthplace he claims, a South Carolina birth would "invalidate" him. We might have an interesting conversation about the extent to which someone, especially in the eighteenth century, could consider oneself African or Igbo, even if he or she had never set foot in Africa. The historian Ira Berlin's concept of the "Atlantic creole" or Equiano's self characterization as "a citizen of the world" might be useful in such a discussion.
Question from Lee, Harper College:
Henry L. Gates is closely associated with the Equiano narrative studies. His name is absent in the Chronicle article. Prof. Carretta did research at Harvard too. Can you tell us what has Prof. Gates thought of your finding?
Vincent Carretta:
Your question came in just after I mentioned Professor Gates's comments on my work, so let me take this opportunity to acknowledge his generous encouragement and support of my research through a Du Bois Institute fellowship at Harvard this past academic year. I first read Equiano in an edition published by Gates.
Question from Lee, Harper College:
In the Chronicle report, it is said "Mr. Carretta has tried to stay clear of any whiff of identity politics in the debate. It would be disastrous..." Can you please elaborate on this? Did you feel, encounter some kind of pressure while conducting scholarly research?
Vincent Carretta:
I have encountered some pressure when presenting my findings publicly, not while conducting the research itself. For example, on one occasion I was told that I should have suppressed my discoveries. On another, the audience and I were told that only Igbos should speak or write about Igbos.
Question from Simon Finger, Princeton University:
Professor Carretta, I'm not sure why treating the Interesting Narrative as anthropology or reportage makes it a greater literary achievement than autobiography. Clearly, genre matters in the treatment of the Narrative as a source, but what does it have to do with the work's rhetorical merits?
Vincent Carretta:
Good point. Of course, it's what Equiano does with anthropology or reportage that renders his autobiography a literary work of such rhetorical power and quality. For example, I try to show in the biography how he fashions the story and image of himself to lead his readers to follow his own progress in moving from a postion of accepting slavery to embracing an abolitionist stance.
Question from Jennifer Howard:
Mr. Carretta, have those negative comments (about suppressing your work, etc.) come from literature scholars or historians or both?
Vincent Carretta:
The hostile comments I mentioned both came from literary critics. Most historians as well as most literary critics, including those who are uncomfortable with the possible implications of my discoveries about a possible South Carolina birth, acknowledge the scholar's obligation to deal with the evidence, whovever may have turned it up.
Question from Jerome Handler, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities:
What evidence have you turned up that the portrait that you use on the dust jacket of your book is, indeed, that of Equiano. If you do not have evidence, why do you use it?
Vincent Carretta:
As you know, Jerry, I've questioned in print whether the beautiful portrait, once attributed to Sir Joshua Reynolds, is indeed of Equiano. It may in fact be a portrait of Equiano's friend Cugoano, painted by Richard Cosway. We don't, and perhaps never will, know for sure. But since the 1950s it has been asscociated with my hero, so I agreed to use it on the cover, with a note acknowledging that its sitter is disputed.
Question from Srinivas Aravamudan, Duke University:
Hello, Vince, am delighted this is just out and am greatly looking forward to reading the biography! Am just curious in terms of where you stand on the question of the political context of Equiano's evangelism. Do you interpret him as favoring a kind of Protestant individualism or is he also using Christian vocabulary for the enfranchisement of slaves and freedmen and other working class marginal elements? I realize that both interpretations are plausible when you read the autobiography, but I was wondering if your biography sheds additional light on this issue!
Vincent Carretta:
Thanks, Srinivas. I agree that both interpretations are indeed plausible. Equiano uses Christianity to condemn whites who, he repeatedly demonstrates, hypocritically claim to be Christian while acting like demons. But I don't think that Equiano embraces Christianity solely for rhetorical purposes. The fact that he stipulates in his will that his fortune should support missionary work in Africa if his daughters predecease him indicates to me that this belief was sincere as well.
Question from Lee Harper College:
I appreciate your courage of seeking the truth and adhering to freedom of speech. And your finding made contributions to African American studies, not otherwise.
Vincent Carretta:
Thanks. I hope that my book demonstrates the difficulty of pinning Equiano down to one identity, whether it be African, African-American, African-Caribbean, or African-British. He was truly a man of the Atlantic, having spent at least ten years of his life at sea, a longer period than he spent in any one place on land. As Ira Berlin says of the "Atlantic creole," Equiano's identity was closely related to his movement around and on the Atlantic, as both a slave and free man.
Question from Lila Guterman, The Chronicle of Higher Education:
How do you respond to Paul Lovejoy's statement that all of the other evidence -- apart from the baptismal record -- points to Equiano's veracity as being African born?
Vincent Carretta:
There are two very significant records that say Equiano was born in South Carolina: his 1759 baptismal record and his naval record during a 1773 voyage towards the North Pole. Lovejoy suggests, without any evidence offered, that Equiano's godmother suppressed his African birth because his English was so good at the time. The lack of evidence for that position aside, excellent English would seem to argue against an African birth, no? Lovejoy is silent on the naval record, which was made when Equiano was a freeman and would have been the only source of the information, which by the way is entirely consistent with the baptismal record. I deal with the evidence at some length in the book.
Question from Simon Finger, Princeton University:
How do you judge the veracity of the rest of the Interesting Narrative, particularly the sections on voyages to Turkey and South America, which both seem to have a literary voice informed by standard tropes about those places?
Vincent Carretta:
Much of Equiano's account, such as his trips to Turkey or Central America, is unverifiable in the sense of not being open to external verification. By that I don't mean to say that it's untrue, just that it's unproveable. I think that "a literary voice" pervasively informs the autobiography because Equiano's such a careful craftsman.
Question from David E Paterson, Norfolk, VA:
Professor Carretta,
Has there been work done on how ships' rosters were queried and collected -- for example, my answer to a question, "Where are you from?" (Seattle) is different from the answer to "Where were you born?" (Edinburgh, Scotland). For comparison, we know that recorded answers to 19th century US federal census questions, which included place of birth, can be highly variable in reliability depending on who gave the answers and the conscientiousness of the census-taker.
Evidence based on one muster roll recorded by a second party, might invite corroboration from other ships' rolls. Of course this does not explain the baptismal record.
Vincent Carretta:
The question asked by the compiler of the muster lists was "where born," and Equiano's response was consistent through several musters.
Question from George Williams, University of Missouri-Kansas City:
Hi, Vin. A few questions that reveal my own interests...
Do you think enough attention has been paid to the religious elements of the lives of Afro-British writers like Equiano? If not, how would the scholarship on these writers be enriched by such attention? Why were writers like Equiano, Phillis Wheatley and others that you've researched so drawn to the Calvinist message of George Whitefield and the evangelistic network associated with him and with the Countess of Huntingdon?
(These aren't loaded questions, and I don't have my own answers in mind.)
Vincent Carretta:
Good questions, George, which since we're running out of time might best be asnwered in the book. Briefly, I think that many 18th-c. blacks were drawn to calvinistic Methodism because they were evangelized by people like George Whitefield and offered a faith in which salvation did not depend on the kinds of good works slaves were denied the ability and means to perform.
Question from Jerome Handler, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities:
Not to overload on questions, but if you favor a South Carolina birth for E, how are we to judge his very detailed account of the Middle Passage?
Vincent Carretta:
Several accounts of the Middle Passage were available to him, so many in fact that when his friend Cugoano wrote his own attack on the slave trade two years earlier, in 1787, he said that he wasn't describing the horrors of the Middle Passage because they were already so well known to his readers.
Question from Lee, Harper College:
Prof. Carretta, do you think it is possible that other famous slave narratives may share some "inventive, creative" elements of E's?
Vincent Carretta:
I think that most, if not all, famous slave narratives demonstrate some degree of invention or creativity. I suspect that that's part of the reason they've endured and achieved literary status.
Question from Jerome Handler, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities:
Well, Vin, Equiano approved the portrait that appears in his Narrative, and we know that portrait is real. Why not use that? As a historian, I should think you would want to go with a known quantity rather than an unknown one?
Vincent Carretta:
You'll be happy to know that I do use it, Jerry. Check page 281. I even attempt a semiotic "reading" of the frontispiece.
Question from Simon Finger, Princeton University:
Would Equiano (or his guardian) have any reason to claim American birth out of a belief that he would face greater discrimination (or even re-enslavement) if he revealed an African origin?
Vincent Carretta:
I've seen no evidence that an American birth would protect one from enslavement or re-enslavement. The baptismal record was essentially a private record, unlooked at as far I know until 1995. Several of Equiano's fellow sailors on the Arctic voyage listed African births.
Question from Hollis L. Gentry, D.A.R.:
Have you found any further evidence of where in South Carolina he may have been born?
Vincent Carretta:
No, I haven't. That may be impossible to do because we would need to find a record that would indicate that a male baby would become known as Equiano/Vassa.
Jennifer Howard (Moderator):
We've run well past the 2 o'clock hour. Many thanks to Mr. Carretta for joining us today, and to all of you who sent in questions. It'll be interesting to see how the scholary community reacts to Mr. Carretta's book, and what else we learn about Equiano in the years to come. With that, I'll hand it over to Mr. Carretta for a final comment.
Vincent Carretta:
Equiano knew that to continue its increasing momentum the eighteenth-century anti-slave trade movement needed precisely the kind of account of Africa and the Middle Passage he could supply. An African, not an African-American, voice was what the abolitionist cause required. He gave a voice to the millions of people forcibly taken from Africa and brought to the Americas as slaves. Equiano recognized a way to do very well financially by doing a great deal of good in supplying that much-needed voice.
Created or revealed, the various overlapping transatlantic identities the author displays in The Interesting Narrative rendered him, as he once described himself, a "citizen of the world," who maintained an allegiance to Africa throughout his life, and who speaks as powerfully now as he first did more than two centuries ago.