Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Author Backgrounds- Hidden Context
As discussed in class, I believe it is important to understand author backgrounds when learning about a text, even in fiction. Understanding John Newton's historical background helps us understand how the man who wrote "A Slave Trader's Journal" in 1751 can write hymnals about salvation just thirty years later. An author's background can greatly influence his or her credibility, and in this case, I believe that it strengthens it. While it would be easy to brush off "A Slave Trader's Journal" as a piece of 18th century pro-slavery literature, it gains more depth with the knowledge that he will eventually turn against that lifestyle. When reading with this future in mind, one is more likely to read into the syntax and phrases that could potentially allude to his eventual change in mind and search out "humanity" within this man. When readers have the author's background handy, it is important to understand the context in which the writer is actually writing.
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In rereading the journals and you post, I was struck by Newton's description of Wed. 12 June: he says, "Buryed a man slave (No. 84) of a flux, which he has been struggling with near 7 weeks." At first, this passage seems to depreciate the slave, turning him into a number without a name. But there is also Newton's recognition of the slave's humanity: he knows this individual well enough to know he has been afflicted with this disease for 7 weeks, and recognizes the slave as a "man" who has been "struggling" to fight off the disease. In this case, then, Newton's description is empirical and treats the slave as property, but it also shows compassion for a man's struggle and eventual death.
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