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“[H]eroic bravery in more than one battle”: The Creation of Heroes in William Wells Brown’s Multi-Edition Clotel
- African American Review
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 49, Number 2, Summer 2016
- pp. 75-91
- 10.1353/afa.2016.0019
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
I argue that a close reading of Brown’s source texts, many of which scholars have yet to uncover or discuss, prove that his novel Clotel imbues both the narrative and characters with historical speeches and fictional writing in order to represent synecdochically the culture born out of slavery in post-Revolutionary War America. Brown accomplishes this representation by using fictional characters as symbolic vessels for true (and “true”) stories of American slavery and abolitionism. In addition, I assert that Brown adjusts his narrative in subsequent editions to meet the cultural expectations and beliefs of various American audiences, transforming once marginal African American characters into synecdochic heroes.