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Chapter 10. Orientalism, slavery and emotion

Slave market scenes in early nineteenth-century journeys to the Orient
  • Sarga Moussa
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A Comparative Literary History of Modern Slavery
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch A Comparative Literary History of Modern Slavery

Abstract

The oriental travel narratives of the first half of the nineteenth century played an important role in debates about slavery. An episode in the slave market of Constantinople that appeared in Alphonse de Lamartine’s Voyage en Orient (1835) created a model followed by later writers. But while Lamartine, a committed abolitionist, tried to stir up feelings of pity by describing the sale of a black woman and her child, in Marcellus, Nerval and Pückler-Muskau, similar descriptions evoked different reactions, ranging from the condemnation of Islamic polygamy to the acceptance of slavery as an ‘oriental fatality.’ Nerval, for his part, reserved pity for the fate of white slaves. Oriental travel narratives as such represent a kind of emotional barometer that gauges both the progress of abolitionist discourse and resistance to it.

Abstract

The oriental travel narratives of the first half of the nineteenth century played an important role in debates about slavery. An episode in the slave market of Constantinople that appeared in Alphonse de Lamartine’s Voyage en Orient (1835) created a model followed by later writers. But while Lamartine, a committed abolitionist, tried to stir up feelings of pity by describing the sale of a black woman and her child, in Marcellus, Nerval and Pückler-Muskau, similar descriptions evoked different reactions, ranging from the condemnation of Islamic polygamy to the acceptance of slavery as an ‘oriental fatality.’ Nerval, for his part, reserved pity for the fate of white slaves. Oriental travel narratives as such represent a kind of emotional barometer that gauges both the progress of abolitionist discourse and resistance to it.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. General introduction xi
  5. Slavery, literature and the emotions 1
  6. Part One. Slavery, sentiment and affect
  7. Chapter 1. Slavery, sentimentality and the abolition of affect 18
  8. Chapter 2. Race and affect in Gustave de Beaumont’s Marie, ou L’esclavage aux Etats‑Unis 34
  9. Chapter 3. Touching difference and colonial space 50
  10. Part Two. Slavery between literary codes
  11. Chapter 4. In search of home 78
  12. Chapter 5. Showing and feeling the atrocities of slavery 95
  13. Chapter 6. Politics and faith, slavery and abolition in nineteenth-century Brazilian literature 110
  14. Chapter 7. Melodramatic tableaux vivants 136
  15. Part Three. Pity, identification and interpellation
  16. Chapter 8. Before sentimental empire 158
  17. Chapter 9. “No one can imagine my feelings” 173
  18. Chapter 10. Orientalism, slavery and emotion 191
  19. Chapter 11. Haunting slavery 207
  20. Part Four. Affective ties
  21. Chapter 12. Testamentary manumission and emotional bonds in eighteenth-century Saint-Domingue 226
  22. Chapter 13. Affection amidst domination in a post-slavery society 239
  23. Chapter 14. Bárbora and Jau 254
  24. Part Five. First-person voices
  25. Chapter 15. Scenes of emotion in French early-modern travel writing from the Caribbean 272
  26. Chapter 16. Fear and love in Matanzas 289
  27. Chapter 17. The blood-stained-gate 307
  28. Volume 1. Biographical descriptions 325
  29. Name index 331
https://doi.org/10.1075/chlel.xxxvi.10mou

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. General introduction xi
  5. Slavery, literature and the emotions 1
  6. Part One. Slavery, sentiment and affect
  7. Chapter 1. Slavery, sentimentality and the abolition of affect 18
  8. Chapter 2. Race and affect in Gustave de Beaumont’s Marie, ou L’esclavage aux Etats‑Unis 34
  9. Chapter 3. Touching difference and colonial space 50
  10. Part Two. Slavery between literary codes
  11. Chapter 4. In search of home 78
  12. Chapter 5. Showing and feeling the atrocities of slavery 95
  13. Chapter 6. Politics and faith, slavery and abolition in nineteenth-century Brazilian literature 110
  14. Chapter 7. Melodramatic tableaux vivants 136
  15. Part Three. Pity, identification and interpellation
  16. Chapter 8. Before sentimental empire 158
  17. Chapter 9. “No one can imagine my feelings” 173
  18. Chapter 10. Orientalism, slavery and emotion 191
  19. Chapter 11. Haunting slavery 207
  20. Part Four. Affective ties
  21. Chapter 12. Testamentary manumission and emotional bonds in eighteenth-century Saint-Domingue 226
  22. Chapter 13. Affection amidst domination in a post-slavery society 239
  23. Chapter 14. Bárbora and Jau 254
  24. Part Five. First-person voices
  25. Chapter 15. Scenes of emotion in French early-modern travel writing from the Caribbean 272
  26. Chapter 16. Fear and love in Matanzas 289
  27. Chapter 17. The blood-stained-gate 307
  28. Volume 1. Biographical descriptions 325
  29. Name index 331
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Heruntergeladen am 26.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/chlel.xxxvi.10mou/html
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