Black Atlantic Writers of the 18th Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas.

Reviewed by

Anthony G. Barthelemy University of Miami 

Gathered in this volume are autobiographical narratives by Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, John Marrant, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, and Olaudah Equiano. Gronniosaw's Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Marrant's Narrative of the Lord's Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, as well as his Sermon Preached on the 24th Day of June, 1789, appear in their entirety. Excerpts of Cugoano's Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Humans Species and an abridged version of Equiano's Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano complete the volume. Obviously, the editors compiled this edition to underscore arguments put forth by Paul Gilroy, who contends that African diasporic cultures cross-fertilize each other and create cultures which are not nationally unique but rather macaronic in nature. Three of the four authors were born in Africa and enslaved in the Americas. Unlike the others, John Marrant was born free in New York City. All four, however, lived for some time in London and various other parts of Great Britain. As the editors observe in their introduction, "As Protean as their professional identities were their 'national' characters were still more fluid, for in their repeated sailings across the Atlantic, they led lives that were neither simply African nor American, West Indian nor British, but in succession all of these, and ultimately all of these at once" (2).

The subtitle of this volume suggests another reason that the editors chose to include these selections in a single volume. While the narratives detail important moments in the lives of the four men, for each the most life-altering and significant incident is his conversion to Christianity. Again in the introduction the editors assert, "These narratives of 'surprising conversion' . . . tend to express a Calvinist world view of election and grace; of saints and sinners; of the just workings of providence through human misery and delight. Gronniosaw, Marrant, Cugoano, and Equiano all subscribed to this Calvinist world view; and indeed it is the shared faith of these men that lends coherence to the present volume" (8).

Whether the reader's interests lie in exploring further the development of "Black Atlantic" consciousness, or the spiritual awakening of these men, or how Africans of the diaspora survived on either side of the Atlantic at a time when blackness was held to be the visible sign of undisputed inferiority, this volume provides interesting reading and engrossing scholarship. Three of the narratives have not been easily available; thus many readers will be grateful to the editors for correcting that. One may wonder why they chose to include an abridged version of Equiano's narrative since that has been readily available over the last thirty years. While it fits easily in with the conversion narrative theme, one rather wishes they had brought to light some other more obscure narrative.