Black Africans in the British Imagination: English Narratives of the Early Atlantic World

Black Africans in the British Imagination: English Narratives of the Early Atlantic World
by Cassander L. Smith (Author) – December 14, 2016

As Spain and England vied for dominance of the Atlantic world during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mounting political and religious tensions between the two empires raised a troubling specter for contemporary British writers attempting to justify early English imperial efforts. Specifically, these writers focused on encounters with black Africans throughout the Atlantic world, attempting to use these points of contact to articulate and defend England’s global ambitions. In Black Africans in the British Imagination, Cassander L. Smith investigates how the physical presence of black Africans both enabled and disrupted English literary responses to Spanish imperialism. By examining the extent to which this population helped to shape early English narratives, from political pamphlets to travelogues, Smith offers new perspectives on the literary, social, and political impact of black Africans in the early Atlantic world.

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Product Details
Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: LSU Press (December 14, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807163848
ISBN-13: 978-0807163849
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review:
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Author This Book

CASSANDER L. SMITH is assistant professor of English at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Her essays have appeared in Early American Literature, Studies in Travel Writing, and other edited collections and journals.