Slavery and its Afterlives: Contemporary (Re)imaginings of the Zong Massacre Restricted; Files Only
Iasiello, Stephanie (Spring 2018)
Published
Abstract
Beginning with the premise that the residues of slavery continue to influence our contemporary society, I’ve asked the question “what neo-abolitionist tools are furnished by contemporary art and literature?” To answer this, I examine literary, filmic, dramatic, and artistic representations of the 1781 Zong massacre, a crucial episode in the abolitionist movement. Engaging with artists across the Black Atlantic, I include a diverse set of works that take the Zong as their subject. The recent surge in interest in the massacre and resulting legal battle begs the question: how can we meaningfully engage these multifaceted, multidimensional, and polygeneric representations to demonstrate the value of a prospective arrived at through a coalition of assorted art forms and how can this rich understanding of a single historical episode enable us to deal with more effectively with the ongoing legacy of slavery in our current moment? First, my dissertation argues that it is precisely this multiplicity of representations that affords us the opportunity to see in ways that would be impossible if we confined our inquiry to a single form by making use of a single historical archive to achieve different ends. Furthermore, because the Zong incident was unquestionably integral to the abolitionist agenda, then we ought to understand the renewed interest in the event as a neo-abolitionist gesture. Identifying a “neo-abolitionist” movement presupposes that there are conditions and institutions that require abolishing--namely the prison industrial complex and other forms of institutional racism. Beyond the obvious fact that the Gregson v. Gilbert case was critical in dismantling the slave trade, I am interested in theorizing what drives the desire to return repeatedly to that particular moment. If we position this grouping of works as part of a neo-abolitionist movement, then we are able to not only identify that which needs abolishing and by extension, continue the work of abolition. Ultimately, the question becomes how do the authors and artists included here ask us to grapple with the vestiges of slavery and the continued necessity of abolitionist work through their representation of the Zong?
Table of Contents
Distribution Agreement ……………………………………………………
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Approval Sheet……………………………………………………………..
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Abstract Cover Page………………………………………………………..
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Abstract……………………………………………………………………..
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Cover Page………………………………………………………………….
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Introduction…………………………………………………………………
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Chapter 1: A Necessary Evil: Feeding the Ghosts, Necessity & the Law….
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Chapter 2: The Poetry of Drowning: Ex-aquaing the Zong………………..
56
Chapter 3: From Freedom to Enslavement: Belle & 12 Years a Slave…
92
Chapter 4: Paintings and Palimpsest: Visual Art and the Zong Massacre..
124
Epilogue: Neoslavery – From Plantation to Prison………………………...
165
Bibliography………………………………………………………………...
181
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File download under embargo until 21 May 2027 | 2018-04-04 14:25:35 -0400 | File download under embargo until 21 May 2027 |
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