African American Narratives of Captivity and Fugitivity: Developing Post-Slavery Questions for Angela Davis: An Autobiography

Abstract

The paper raises theoretical questions for a ‘post-slavery’ approach to African American narratives of captivity and fugitivity out of an engagement with Black Studies perspectives on enslavement, confinement, and flight which theorize the structural position of Blacks as ‘captives,’ ‘fugitives,' and ‘slaves’ in—or rather outside of—U.S. American society. The questions are confronted with close readings of two passages from Angela Davis: An Autobiography.