Abstract
This essay examines letters written by U.S. black settler-colonists in Liberia to their families, friends, and former masters in the United States during Liberia's colonial and early national periods, 1820–1855. It argues that the letters stage speculative, epistolary encounters with freedom that evade strictly historicist interpretive methods. Consequently, the essay proffers a reading practice that attends to the letters' speculative reflections on the meaning of freedom in nineteenth-century Liberia. It shows how the black settler-colonists represent freedom not simply as an event or an accomplishment (of a return to Africa, or of manumission, independence, or national citizenship) but as an ongoing, equivocal, ungiven possibility that also repeatedly returns, recursively, to the legacy of slavery in the United States.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.