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THE MYTHOLOGY OF NAT TURNER:
BLACK THEOLOGY AND BLACK REVOLT IN THE SHAPING OF AMERICAN
MYTH AND SYMBOL
by
Joshua Damu Smith
________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ENGLISH)
May 2010
Copyright 2010 Joshua Damu Smith
Object Description
| Title | The mythology of Nat Turner: black theology and black revolt in the shaping of American myth and symbol |
| Author | Smith, Joshua Damu |
| Author email | jdsmithvision@hotmail.com; docjoshplot@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | English |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2009-12-01 |
| Date submitted | 2010 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2010-02-05 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Fossett, Judith Jackson |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Kemp, Anthony Gustafson, Thomas Briggs, Sheila |
| Abstract | Nat Turner and his 1831 Southampton County, Virginia slave rebellion leave a mythic footprint on American culture that has since forged a permanent part of the mythology of race and revolt in America. The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831), the testimony of Turner as transcribed by Thomas Gray, is the most important source for information about Turner’s rebellion. However, it is one part of a rhetorical continuum comprised of propaganda-filled statements by political officials, transcriptions of interviews with co-conspirators, court records, newspaper reports, and anonymous tips to the press. Compromised by Gray’s editorial decisions and other political forces, The Confessions of Nat Turner must also be read in light of Turner’s actions. In and of itself, Turner’s rebellion is its own artifact. Taking on violent action befitting the mold of America’s Revolutionary tradition and calling upon America’s Christian tradition as a self-proclaimed preacher and prophet, Turner becomes conflated with his rebellion and becomes an indomitable entity within Gray’s redacted narrative and within American myth and symbol. In sum, Turner becomes emblematic of black revolution, embodying a narrative of a black autonomy throughout the antebellum New World. This dissertation examines these dynamics through close readings of The Confessions of Nat Turner and several related literary, historical and religious documents. |
| Keyword | Nat Turner; slave rebellion; slave revolt; myth; symbol; American literature; African-American literature; Black literature; African- American studies; Fredrick Douglass; Harriet Jacobs; David Walker |
| Geographic subject (county) | Southampton |
| Geographic subject (state) | Virginia |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m2835 |
| Rights | Smith, Joshua Damu |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Smith-3426 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume48/etd-Smith-3426.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | THE MYTHOLOGY OF NAT TURNER: BLACK THEOLOGY AND BLACK REVOLT IN THE SHAPING OF AMERICAN MYTH AND SYMBOL by Joshua Damu Smith ________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ENGLISH) May 2010 Copyright 2010 Joshua Damu Smith |
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