`An imnpressive collection.'New York Times Book Review

• Introduction: The Language of Slavery, xi 1. Written by Themselves, Views and Reviews, 1750-1861 The Life of Job Ben Solomon, 4 - AnonymousThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African; Written by Himself, 5The Life and Adventures of a Fugitive Slave, 6 - AnonymousNarrative of James Williams, 8 - AnonymousThe Narrative of Juan Manzano, 15 - AnonymousNarratives of Fugitive Slaves, 19 - Ephraim PeabodyLife of Henry Bibb, 28 - AnonymousThe Life and Bondage of Frederick Douglass, 30 - AnonymousKidnapped and Ransomed, 31 - - AnonymousLinda: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, 32 - Anonymous 2. The Slave Narratives as History On Dialect Usage, 37 - Sterling A. BrownThe Art and Science of Reading WPA Slave Narratives, 40 - Paul D. EscottHistory from Slave Sources, 48 - C. Vann WoodwardCharles Chesnutt and the WPA Narratives: The Oral and the Literate Roots of Afro-American Literature, 59 - John Edgar WidemanUsing the Testimony of Ex-Slaves: Approaches and Problems, 78 - John W. BlassingamePlantation Factories and the Slave Work Ethic, 98 - Gerald JaynesThe Making of a Fugitive Slave Narrative: Josiah Henson and Uncle Tom -- A Case Study, 112 - Robin W. Winks 3. The Slave Narratives as Literature "I Was Born": Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as Literature, 148 - James OlneyThree West African Writers of the 1870s, 175 - Paul EdwardsCrushed Geraniums: Juan Francisco Manzano and the Language of Slavery, 199 - Susan WillisI Rose and Found My Voice: Narration, Authentication, and Authorial Control in Four Slave Narratives, 225 - Robert Burns SteptoAutobiographical Acts and the Voice of the Southern Slave, 242 - Houston A. Baker, Jr.Text and Contexts of Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, 262 - Jean Fagan YellinThe Slave Narrators and the Picaresque Mode: Archetypes for Modern Black Personae, 283 - Charles H. NicholsSinging Swords: The Literary Legacy of Slavery, 298 - Melvin Dixon Bibliography, 319Index, 331

`An imnpressive collection.'New York Times Book Review

• Introduction: The Language of Slavery, xi 1. Written by Themselves, Views and Reviews, 1750-1861 The Life of Job Ben Solomon, 4 - AnonymousThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African; Written by Himself, 5The Life and Adventures of a Fugitive Slave, 6 - AnonymousNarrative of James Williams, 8 - AnonymousThe Narrative of Juan Manzano, 15 - AnonymousNarratives of Fugitive Slaves, 19 - Ephraim PeabodyLife of Henry Bibb, 28 - AnonymousThe Life and Bondage of Frederick Douglass, 30 - AnonymousKidnapped and Ransomed, 31 - - AnonymousLinda: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, 32 - Anonymous 2. The Slave Narratives as History On Dialect Usage, 37 - Sterling A. BrownThe Art and Science of Reading WPA Slave Narratives, 40 - Paul D. EscottHistory from Slave Sources, 48 - C. Vann WoodwardCharles Chesnutt and the WPA Narratives: The Oral and the Literate Roots of Afro-American Literature, 59 - John Edgar WidemanUsing the Testimony of Ex-Slaves: Approaches and Problems, 78 - John W. BlassingamePlantation Factories and the Slave Work Ethic, 98 - Gerald JaynesThe Making of a Fugitive Slave Narrative: Josiah Henson and Uncle Tom -- A Case Study, 112 - Robin W. Winks 3. The Slave Narratives as Literature "I Was Born": Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as Literature, 148 - James OlneyThree West African Writers of the 1870s, 175 - Paul EdwardsCrushed Geraniums: Juan Francisco Manzano and the Language of Slavery, 199 - Susan WillisI Rose and Found My Voice: Narration, Authentication, and Authorial Control in Four Slave Narratives, 225 - Robert Burns SteptoAutobiographical Acts and the Voice of the Southern Slave, 242 - Houston A. Baker, Jr.Text and Contexts of Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, 262 - Jean Fagan YellinThe Slave Narrators and the Picaresque Mode: Archetypes for Modern Black Personae, 283 - Charles H. NicholsSinging Swords: The Literary Legacy of Slavery, 298 - Melvin Dixon Bibliography, 319Index, 331