Plagiarama!

William Wells Brown and the Aesthetic of Attractions

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Black, Poetry History & Criticism, American
Cover of the book Plagiarama! by Geoffrey Sanborn, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Geoffrey Sanborn ISBN: 9780231540582
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 8, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Geoffrey Sanborn
ISBN: 9780231540582
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 8, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

William Wells Brown (1814–1884) was a vocal abolitionist, a frequent antagonist of Frederick Douglass, and the author of Clotel, the first known novel by an African American. He was also an extensive plagiarist, copying at least 87,000 words from close to 300 texts. In this critical study of Brown's work and legacy, Geoffrey Sanborn offers a novel reading of the writer's plagiarism, arguing the act was a means of capitalizing on the energies of mass-cultural entertainments popularized by showmen such as P. T. Barnum. By creating the textual equivalent of a variety show, Brown animated antislavery discourse and evoked the prospect of a pleasurably integrated world.

Brown's key dramatic protagonists were the "spirit of capitalization"—the unscrupulous double of Max Weber's spirit of capitalism—and the "beautiful slave girl," a light-skinned African American woman on the verge of sale and rape. Brown's unsettling portrayal of these figures unfolded within a riotous patchwork of second-hand texts, upset convention, and provoked the imagination. Could a slippery upstart lay the groundwork for a genuinely interracial society? Could the fetishized image of a not-yet-sold woman hold open the possibility of other destinies? Sanborn's analysis of pastiche and plagiarism adds new depth to the study of nineteenth-century culture and the history of African American literature, suggesting modes of African American writing that extend beyond narratives of necessity and purpose, characterized by the works of Frederick Douglass and others.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

William Wells Brown (1814–1884) was a vocal abolitionist, a frequent antagonist of Frederick Douglass, and the author of Clotel, the first known novel by an African American. He was also an extensive plagiarist, copying at least 87,000 words from close to 300 texts. In this critical study of Brown's work and legacy, Geoffrey Sanborn offers a novel reading of the writer's plagiarism, arguing the act was a means of capitalizing on the energies of mass-cultural entertainments popularized by showmen such as P. T. Barnum. By creating the textual equivalent of a variety show, Brown animated antislavery discourse and evoked the prospect of a pleasurably integrated world.

Brown's key dramatic protagonists were the "spirit of capitalization"—the unscrupulous double of Max Weber's spirit of capitalism—and the "beautiful slave girl," a light-skinned African American woman on the verge of sale and rape. Brown's unsettling portrayal of these figures unfolded within a riotous patchwork of second-hand texts, upset convention, and provoked the imagination. Could a slippery upstart lay the groundwork for a genuinely interracial society? Could the fetishized image of a not-yet-sold woman hold open the possibility of other destinies? Sanborn's analysis of pastiche and plagiarism adds new depth to the study of nineteenth-century culture and the history of African American literature, suggesting modes of African American writing that extend beyond narratives of necessity and purpose, characterized by the works of Frederick Douglass and others.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book How They Got Away With It by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Hiroshima After Iraq by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Contemporary American Judaism by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Islam Through Western Eyes by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Film Studies by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Listening to the Page by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book A Tragedy of Democracy by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Far Beyond the Field by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book No Country by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Tainted Witness by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Rethinking Investment Incentives by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Incomparable Empires by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery by Geoffrey Sanborn
Cover of the book Dissenting Bodies by Geoffrey Sanborn
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy