Until fairly recently, critical studies and anthologies of African American literature generally began with the 1830s and 1840s. Yet there was an active and lively transatlantic black literary tradition as early as the 1760s. Genius in Bondage situates this literature in its own historical terms, rather than treating it as a sort of prologue to later African American writings. The contributors address the shifting meanings of race and gender during this period, explore how black identity was cultivated within a capitalist economy, discuss the impact of Christian religion and the Enlightenment on definitions of freedom and liberty, and identify ways in which black literature both engaged with and rebelled against Anglo-American culture.

About the Author
Vincent Carretta, professor of English at the University of Maryland, is the editor of Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century. Philip Gould, associate professor of English at Brown University, is the co-editor of Covenant and Republic: Historical Romance and the Politics of Puritanism.

Reviews
A monumental collection of essays, one that will set the standard for years to come. -Adam Potkay



Book Information
ISBN 9780813122038
Author Vincent Carretta
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint The University Press of Kentucky
Publisher The University Press of Kentucky