Problem of Embodiment in Early African American Narrative

By Katherine Fishburn

Offering a revolutionary way of reading 19th-century slave narratives, Fishburn seeks to recover the philosophical foundations of African American literature. Underlying slave narrative is an expression of the problem of physical embodiment; that is, the dualistic thinking of the mind-body division. Fishburn's work uncovers the tension between needing to acknowledge the fact of human embodiment and wishing to overcome its consequences in a racist society. One of the strongest points made by this pioneering work is the controversial claim that these slave narratives offer one of the most telling, if largely overlooked, pre-Heideggerian critiques of liberal humanism ever attempted in the West.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0313303592
• ISBN13: 9780313303593
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"