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AFRICA AND TRANS-ATLANTIC MEMORIES: Literary and Aesthetic Manifestations of Diaspora and History

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AFRICA AND TRANS-ATLANTIC MEMORIES: Literary and Aesthetic Manifestations of Diaspora and History

The trans-Atlantic slave trade and the concomitant enslavement of Africans created an enduring connection between Africa and the scattered communities of peoples of African origins in the Americas and elsewhere. These tragic events of slavery have profoundly influenced the literary imagination, whether in Africa, Europe or the Americas. The authors in this collection explore the ways in which trans-Atlantic constructions of this historical experience find expression in the literary mode. The essays examine the ways that writers and performers have used a variety of literary traditions, including narrative, poetry, myth, legend, autobiography, and drama, as well as song and the cinema, to engage in the construction of imagined yet realistic perceptions of Africa through literary representation.

About the Author

David V. Trotman is a Professor in the Department of History at York University and a research associate of the Harriet Tubman Institute and the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean.

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