Gordis
ENG BC3180y
Spring 2000

As we read this text, we’ll need to be aware of a range of contexts. Harriet Jacobs was herself aware of contexts in which her text would be read, and she makes interesting use of various forms and genres. First, consider this text as a slave narrative. Like Douglass’s narrative, Jacobs’s text describes her experiences in and escape from slavery. Consider how it resembles Douglass’s Narrative and how it differs from it. Are there ways in which her account seems to be commenting on Douglass’s account? Does her account seem gendered in significant ways?

Consider the authenticating documents surrounding this text very carefully. In addition to the nineteenth-century preface, the Harvard University Press edition includes a range of historical materials and letters attesting to the narrative’s status as fact rather than fiction. Jean Fagan Yellin, the editor of this edition, played a large role in convincing twentieth-century critics that this text is a "genuine" slave narrative, rather than a novel. Though Jacobs had received a great deal of publicity immediately after the publication of Incidents, by the twentieth century most historians believed that either a slave had dictated the narrative to Lydia Maria Child, whose preface attested to its genuineness, or that this was in fact an anti-slavery novel written by Child herself. Jean Fagan Yellin’s research led scholars to accept this narrative as the work of an African-American woman. Since this edition has been so important in this process, and since the various supporting materials are interesting, I’ve ordered it for you. However, in light of the discussions we’ve already had about authenticating materials, you might consider the implications of an edition that adds even more authenticating documents to the text.

In this context, consider Child’s preface and its relationship to Jacobs’s own. Also, look at the letter from Child to Jacobs that is printed on page 244 of the Harvard University Press edition. What does this letter suggest about Child’s involvement in the text, and/or about her agenda? See also Jacobs’s letter to Amy Post on page 235, in which she describes her correspondence with Harriet Beecher Stowe. What does this letter reveal about Jacobs’s sense of her authorial role? In general, do the authenticating materials assembled for this twentieth-century edition of Incidents differ from nineteenth-century documents in significant ways?

One reason that the text was mistaken for a novel is that Jacobs employs many conventions of sentimental fiction. What conventions do you notice as you read? Does Jacobs present herself as a sentimental heroine, or are there significant ways in which she rejects this model? How does she present her sexuality? Consider also her representation of motherhood. How do mothers and motherhood function in this text? Are they entirely positive forces? How do you read the figure of Jacobs’s grandmother?

Note also that this text was published in 1861, making the Civil War an important context for our discussion. Remember that South Carolina had seceded in 1860. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate Army attacked Fort Sumter, and defeated Union forces in a two-day battle. On July 21, 1861, Confederate forces defeated Union forces at the battle of Bull Run. As you read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, consider whether the active conflict marks the book in any way.

Finally, I encourage you to explore the links to Jacobs resources available on the schedule of readings. There’s some very interesting material on Jacobs and her historical moment available on the web.