Jane Austen in the context of abolition : a fling at the slave trade / Gabrielle D.V. White.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

White, Gabrielle D. V.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817--Political and social views.

Austen, Jane.

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817.

Literature and society--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Antislavery movements.

History.

Political and social views.

Great Britain.

Antislavery movements--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Political fiction, English--History and criticism.

Political fiction, English.

Slave trade in literature.

Slavery in literature.

Physical Description:

ix, 231 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Summary:

The book argues that, amongst their other riches, Jane Austen's final three novels presuppose Britain's outlawing of its transatlantic slave trade in 1807. The book takes as a keynote William Cowper's question: 'We have no slaves at home - then why abroad?' Jane Austen's later fiction was written during the first decade of an interim period following the 1807 Abolition. It would be over sixteen years after her premature death in July 1817 before chattel slavery was abolished for British colonies in the 1830s. This book concludes that there is subtlety in Jane Austen's references to topics associated with the great abolitionist campaigning of her time, and that she avoided being counter-productive. It argues that, contrary to some interpretations such as those of Edward Said, Jane Austen undermined the status quo of chattel slavery and that she celebrated the abolition of the slave trade in her Chawton novels.

Contents:

1 'We have no slaves at home - then why abroad?' 1

Part I The Chawton Novels

2 Mansfield Park: Absenteeism, Autonomy and the Slave Trade 19

3 Emma: Autonomy and Abolition 52

4 Persuasion: Radical Change and the Royal Navy 73

Part II The Context in which Jane Austen Wrote the Chawton Novels

5 Some Philosophers on Race and Slavery: Opposing Viewpoints 95

6 Abolitionist Influences on Jane Austen: Some Possibilities 128

Appendix 1 On Colonization: Samuel Johnson, The Idler, 1759 173

Appendix 2 Argument Against Slavery: Samuel Johnson, 1777 175

Appendix 3 William Cowper's 1785 The Task: extract quoted by Thomas Clarkson 1807 177.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 204-223) and index.

ISBN:

1403991219

OCLC:

59011607

Publisher Number:

9781403991218