The logic of slavery : debt, technology, and pain in American literature / Tim Armstrong, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Armstrong, Tim, 1956- author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture.

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery in literature.

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--20th century--History and criticism.

American literature--African American authors--History and criticism.

Slavery in art.

Slavery--United States--History.

Slavery.

Slavery--Psychological aspects.

Slavery--Economic aspects.

Commodification.

Reification.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 252 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In American history and throughout the Western world, the subjugation perpetuated by slavery has created a unique 'culture of slavery'. That culture exists as a metaphorical, artistic and literary tradition attached to the enslaved - human beings whose lives are 'owed' to another, who are used as instruments by another and who must endure suffering in silence. Tim Armstrong explores the metaphorical legacy of slavery in American culture by investigating debt, technology and pain in African-American literature and a range of other writings and artworks. Armstrong's careful analysis reveals how notions of the slave as a debtor lie hidden in our accounts of the commodified self and how writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rebecca Harding Davis, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison grapple with the pervasive view that slaves are akin to machines.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Slavery, insurance, and sacrifice: the embodiment of capital; 2. Debt, self-redemption, and foreclosure; 3. Machines inside the machine: slavery and technology; 4. The hands of others: sculpture and pain; 5. The sonic veil; 6. Slavery in the mind: trauma and the weather; Notes; Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-23207-4

1-139-50836-9

1-283-52179-2

1-139-51804-6

9786613834249

1-139-17725-7

1-139-51897-6

1-139-51454-7

1-139-51546-2

1-139-51711-2

OCLC:

804664390