Metaphor and the Slave Trade in West African Literature (Western African Studies) - Softcover

Murphy, Laura T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0821419951 ISBN 13: 9780821419953

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Metaphor and the Slave Trade provides compelling evidence of the hidden but unmistakable traces of the transatlantic slave trade that persist in West African discourse. Through an examination of metaphors that describe the trauma, loss, and suffering associated with the commerce in human lives, this book shows how the horrors of slavery are communicated from generation to generation.

Laura T. Murphy’s insightful new readings of canonical West African fiction, autobiography, drama, and poetry explore the relationship between memory and metaphor and emphasize how repressed or otherwise marginalized memories can be transmitted through images, tropes, rumors, and fears. By analyzing the unique codes through which West Africans have represented the slave trade, this work foregrounds African literary contributions to Black Atlantic discourse and draws attention to the archive that metaphor unlocks for scholars of all disciplines and fields of study.

About this title

Book Description:

Metaphor and the Slave Trade in West African Literature provides compelling evidence of the hidden but unmistakable traces of the transatlantic slave trade that persist in West African discourse. Through an examination of metaphors that describe the trauma, loss, and suffering associated with the commerce in human lives, this book shows how the horrors of slavery are communicated from generation to generation.

Laura T. Murphy’s insightful new readings of canonical West African fiction, autobiography, drama, and poetry explore the relationship between memory and metaphor and emphasize how repressed or otherwise marginalized memories can be transmitted through images, tropes, rumors, and fears. By analyzing the unique codes through which West Africans have represented the slave trade, this work foregrounds African literary contributions to Black Atlantic discourse and draws attention to the archive that metaphor unlocks for scholars of all disciplines and fields of study.

About the Author:

Laura T. Murphy is an assistant professor of English at Loyola University in New Orleans. Her work has appeared in Research in African Literatures and in Studies in the Novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0821419951
• ISBN 13: 9780821419953
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264