Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Resisting the Romance of the Promised Land: Lawrence Hill The Book of Negroes
Department
English Department
College
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Date Range
2012-2013
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
In The Book of Negroes (2007) Lawrence Hill continues the work of filling the gaps of Canada national history with often forgotten black memories. Through Aminata Diallo geographic movements, Hill disturbs the conventional narrative that depicts Canada as the space of benevolence for fugitive slaves. Resisting the official narrative of Canada national history is challenging enough; yet The Book of Negroes does more besides. As Hill rewrites Canada historical narrative, he too writes against the historical narrative of African America, a cultural nation within the United States that too, is invested in Canada remaining the mythical Heaven that the enslaved sang about in the spirituals. In my paper I will examine how Hill transnational writing both complicates and enriches Canadian and American literatures of black slavery in North America.
Conference Name
The Changing Landscape of American Multiethnic Literature through Historical Crises
Conference Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
ScholarWorks Citation
Johnson, Sherry, "Resisting the Romance of the Promised Land: Lawrence Hill The Book of Negroes" (2013). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 1175.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/1175
