The Historian's Narrative of Frederick Douglass: Reading Douglass's Autobiography as Social and Cultural History

by Robert Felgar (Editor)

Overview

To celebrate the bicentenary of Frederick Douglass's birth in 2018, this new annotated edition of his classic autobiography shows how his insights on slavery, racism, and the pursuit of self-reliance are still highly relevant today in 21st-century America.

Frederick Douglass was a slave, then a free man. He was an abolitionist, a writer, and an orator who became a great social reformer and statesman. Perhaps even more important, he served as a powerful counter-example to white Americans who believed black people could not be their equals. Douglass dedicated his life to the pursuit of freedom and equality for not just African Americans, but for all people, of all races, male and female.

The Historian's Narrative of Frederick Douglass: Reading Douglass's Autobiography as Social and Cultural History covers the first decades of Frederick Douglass's life, from his childhood through his escape from slavery in 1838 and his early years as a fiery abolitionist speaker in the North. The book provides readers with the necessary biographical and historical context to better understand and fully appreciate the Douglass's classic memoir. Readers will learn about slavery, the abolitionist movement, efforts of resistance to slavery and escape from it, and the great importance of literacy in combating slavery. The book is written in accessible language that will engage high school and college students as well as general readers, but deals with challenging and provocative concepts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440846861
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/18/2017
Series:	The Historian's Annotated Classics
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Robert Felgar, PhD, is professor and head of the Department of English at Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword by Ranjit S. Dighe
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Chapter 1. Frederick Douglass: Slave and Free
Chapter 2. Slavery in the Land of Freedom
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Kate Foldy

"An invaluable resource for both educators and students, this copiously supplemented and annotated text provides comprehensive historical details and insightful cultural analysis of Douglass’s narrative. Dr. Felgar captures the contextual essences of the American abolitionist movement and its major players through the lens of Douglass but also proposes important contemporary readings of many relevant issues that will only enlighten and progress any reader’s perspective on this rich document and its historical and current implications. The introductory chapters, supplementary photographs, extensive annotations, and helpful bibliography surround Douglass’s text with a deeply knowledgeable voice that makes it accessible, timely, and still vitally important to the canon of American literary and cultural studies."

James L. Conyers

"Robert Felgar’s new edition of Douglass’s classic narrative provides a firsthand approach to this black libertarian, self-determined, freedom fighter. The author’s use of sources stations the reader to be an active investigator of biography, examining the life, legacy, and contributions of Douglass as a prestigious black leader of the nineteenth century. Appreciated for his impacts on race, abolition, and human rights, Douglass made lasting contributions that are still being felt today. Deepening our understanding of Douglass in place, space, and time, with emphasis on social science and humanistic enquiry, Felgar’s book should be required reading for academic and independent scholars."

Caleb Corkery

"Felgar has provided a most valuable resource to one of the most important works in American letters. His annotations identify and further amplify the literary and rhetorical force of Douglass’s narrative. Insights into Douglass's circumstance and motivation are complemented with connections to other moments in history, right up to the present. Felgar's research reads as a more complete telling of Douglass's story, a lively and in-depth side narrative that deepens one's appreciation of this work. This edition will both entertain and educate those stepping into Douglass's remarkable narrative."

Editorial Reviews

[A] necessary and useful annotated guide. . . . This text and others in The Historian's Annotated Classics series make accessible the New Historicist project to general readers and undergraduates and break down the boundaries between history and literary studies as disciplines. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All public and academic levels/libraries.” —Choice

From the Publisher