Citation

Grinnell GC. Eur. Romantic Rev. 2016; 27(3): 365-373.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10509585.2016.1163800

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article considers how The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano theorizes suicide in the context of the terrors of slavery and the difficulties Equiano faced in addressing the topic openly and adequately given its complex meanings. The argument contends that suicide is not only a personal act but also a social phenomenon. Suicide involves practices of recognition and intelligibility that are governed by moral and religious norms, laws, and rights, as well as ideas of volition, capacity, and circumstance. As impossible as it sounds, every suicide is an assisted suicide to the extent that it is assisted by practices of social recognition that frame the taking of ones life as such. To think through suicide as Equiano does is to address the very questions of identification and intention that have once again been placed at the core of public reception of The Interesting Narrative. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Language: en