Slavery During The Twentieth Century - 993 Words

Jeremy Black has recently stated ‘slavery played a major role in the twentieth century.’ The twentieth century, he argues, witnessed a highpoint in slavery as it rose to a new peak. He defines slavery as being ‘public’ which differs from the ‘conventional account of enslavement, economic exploitation and racism.’ For Black, the conventional account of slavery has been ‘easier to define and confront.’ This dissertation through the work of three authors: Buchi Emecheta, Ayi Kwei Armah and Tayeb Salih aims to act as a corrective to approaches similar to Black’s theory, that slavery has been easily defined, by demonstrating the tension between remembering and forgetting history. The twentieth century narratives trace the history of the Atlantic slave trade through contemporary Africa, reflecting the role of slavery in present day. The works unearth remnants of the past in order to locate African memories in literature and bri ng them forth from the margins of history. Each author originates from different geographical locations in Africa, which allows various forms of slavery to emerge in the narratives, representing slavery as continuing to haunt the African psyche. In tracing transatlantic slave trade literature, Achille Mbembe states, ‘there is, properly speaking no African memory’ presenting the void of African voices in the history of the slave trade. The memories depicted in literature are as Paul Connerton claims ‘remembered by those in power’ demonstrating theShow MoreRelatedThe Compromise Of 1850 And The United States1390 Words   |  6 Pages The Compromise of 1850 was the result of many years of tension regarding the issue of slavery, and the plethora of problems that came with it, such as the admission of slave and free states into the Union, and fugitive slave laws. 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