Description
This week’s readings further complicate the idea that the natural world provides an innocent pastoral “escape.” In Douglass’ case, his experience as a slave changes the imaginary geography of the pastoral genre. In this CR Exercise, the goal will be to consider how Douglass uses the pastoral’s opposition between the country and the city in his own arguments for abolition.
As you respond, you might consider how Douglass’ depictions of and relationship to nature is related to time. Greg Garrard’s Ecocriticism suggests that pastoral can look backwards and/or forwards in time: “Pastoral, then, need not always be nostalgic, but may be utopian and proleptic” (42). How does this attitude towards the pastoral (nostalgic, proleptic, or utopian) work for Douglass? More importantly, how do these genre attitudes carry out Douglass’ rhetorical purpose? Why does Douglass turn to the pastoral in his arguments for abolition?
First, choose a passage from Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom that fits your definition of pastoral (again, you should include this definition early in your response, and you don’t need to stick to your definition from Critical Reading Exercise #1). How is Douglass’s pastoral view of the natural world (or the city) shaped by the context of slavery?
In your response, feel free to also acknowledge the moments in Douglass’s text that don’t fit in the genre of the pastoral. Are there elements in his narrative that we might instead call “anti-pastoral” in the way they depict life in the country?
Then, consider how Douglass uses the pastoral & anti-pastoral elements you’ve identified to work upon his audience? Put simply: who are the pastoral elements for. Why would he choose to present his narrative in this way?
In your response, you must also use one of the secondary sources for this week to support your argument. Properly cite and quote your source, and provide relevant context. Think about your own argument for what Douglass is doing, and how any of our readings for the week can help you make it. You are also welcome to include a source that you disagree with as long as you engage with their argument. However, whichever option you choose, be sure to connect the secondary source back to your own reading of Douglass.
Frederick Douglass, Ch. 4 “General Survey of the Slave Plantation,” Ch. 10 “Life in Baltimore,” and Ch. 22 “Liberty Attained” from My Bondage, My Freedom (1855)
Douglass Pastoral Opposition Country vs City Abolitionism Essay
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Douglass Pastoral Opposition Country vs City Abolitionism Essay
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Douglass Pastoral Opposition Country vs City Abolitionism Essay