The Dutch historical narrative on slavery and slave trade is part of a debate in which ignorance tends to be painted as the source of contemporary disputes. This refers to the debate around racial...Show moreThe Dutch historical narrative on slavery and slave trade is part of a debate in which ignorance tends to be painted as the source of contemporary disputes. This refers to the debate around racial inequality that arose in early 2020 in which racism was claimed to be institutionalized. With slavery being an obvious example in history that shows how racism took on a structural and institutionalized form, it is essential to critically analyze how the narrative on the inhumane and degrading treatment of black Africans is told. In this thesis, two senior year havo-level secondary school history textbooks, Feniks and Geschiedeniswerkplaats, will be analyzed using a Critical Discourse Analysis. The storyline on the slavery period will be assessed critically, focusing on the selection of narratives and phrasing. The results show the presence of the Color-blind discourse, in which storylines take on a passive voice, and Racially essentialist discourse, where the selection of black Africans is biologically justified. Both textbooks lack a description on the wider social opinion towards the black community and therefore fail to address these racist attitudes.Show less
This MA Thesis discusses the way in which Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing represent the notion of the transmission of the traumas of slavery. Both Beloved and Homegoing represent...Show moreThis MA Thesis discusses the way in which Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing represent the notion of the transmission of the traumas of slavery. Both Beloved and Homegoing represent the notion that traumas need to be narrated, and witnessed by others, or they will continue to have a negative impact on multiple generations, not only the generations of the present, but also those of the future. They do, however, differ significantly in the way in which they portray the notion of transmission of trauma. In Beloved, Denver is mostly traumatized not by being enslaved but by living with a mother who is traumatized by slavery, whilst in Homegoing the recurrent tropes of a black necklace, fire, and fear of water in the stories of the various generations suggest that the collective trauma of slavery is transmitted from one generation to the next. This is a significant difference, because it suggests the novels engage differently with the question central to the scholarly debate on transmission of trauma: can trauma be transmitted or is it the traumatized parent who creates a traumatizing atmosphere for the child?Show less
The focus in Afrofuturist scholarship has always been on the ways in which the black experience, particularly the forcible dislocation of the Middle Passage, has been akin to sensations of...Show moreThe focus in Afrofuturist scholarship has always been on the ways in which the black experience, particularly the forcible dislocation of the Middle Passage, has been akin to sensations of alienation and “Othering” explored in science fiction and speculative fiction. While a range of technologies have been analyzed in the context of Afrofuturism, from sonic, to digital, to even aerospace technologies, I argue in this thesis that there is a gap in scholarship on the medical technologies that undergird the alienation experienced by African Americans. To fill this gap, my research focuses on two works of fiction, Ralph Ellison’s classic novel Invisible Man (1952) and Jordan Peele’s recent movie Get Out (2017), that deal with the oppressive power of medicine. I argue that in both narratives medical experiments are used to take control over black bodies and minds, and I position this political violence into a history of medical experimentation and abuse on African Americans as well as Afrofuturism. As much as the medical mistreatment that the protagonists in these texts suffer seems exclusive to the world of science fiction, it has been, and might continue to be, part of the real experience of black Americans.Show less
This Thesis offers a close look at abolitionist white women and the activism they practiced despite the limitations they faced because of their gender. It also studies the prejudices and outright...Show moreThis Thesis offers a close look at abolitionist white women and the activism they practiced despite the limitations they faced because of their gender. It also studies the prejudices and outright racism within the texts these women wrote, which was often informed by their own limitations. It offers an insight on both the complications of intersectionality, and of its necessity when abolitionist texts written by women are judged.Show less
This paper offers an in-depth study into slaves using poison as a form of resistance in antebellum Virginia. Although much attention has been given to sensational and bloody slave resistance such...Show moreThis paper offers an in-depth study into slaves using poison as a form of resistance in antebellum Virginia. Although much attention has been given to sensational and bloody slave resistance such as Nat Turner’s Rebellion and more recent scholarship has focused on “everyday resistance,” this paper attempts to bridge the gap between the two as poisoning is simultaneously violent yet hidden. While previous scholars have given some study to eighteenth-century poisoning, the nineteenth century is perhaps of more interest as advances in forensics and the rise of paternalism created an environment vastly different from, and in many ways more conducive to, poisoning than that found in the previous century. To try to gain a more complete understanding of poison practices this paper presents cases that involve slaves of different genders, occupations, and ages. Contrary to some historians, this paper presents poisoning in the context of its practicality and is critical of the view of poison being spiritually tied to Africa; as such, this paper explores the many varieties of poisons slaves utilized. Using newspaper articles and other primary sources, this paper dissects the poisoning practices of slaves as well as the white reactions to it.Show less
