Legitimizing the Self: The Hermeneutics of Sacred Texts in Omar ibn Said’s and Jeffery Brace’s Autobiographies

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

Author

Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Sohag university, Egypt Department of English, Faculty of Sciences and Humanitities at Alquwayiah, Shaqra University, KSA

Abstract

There has been a resurgence of interest in slave narratives, which are now viewed as an integral part of the American tradition and culture. Many manuscripts are being reinvestigated to reveal the role of slaves in the making of America. This essay adds to this tradition by highlighting slave’s use of religious sacred texts to achieve their equality with their oppressors, hence reclaiming their humanity and authorial voice while annihilating the oppressive Christian discourse that justifies slavery. Two texts are examined against a background of philosophical hermeneutics: Omar ibn Said’s and Jeffery Brace’s autobiographies. Although Said and Brace were contemporaries, they never met and had different slavery experiences and religious backgrounds, they both make similar statements using verses from the Qur’an and the Bible that defy and deconstruct Christian claims that justify slavery. A hermeneutic analysis of the verses they quote reveals how they target the institution of slavery to expose its hypocrisy, discrepancy, and injustices directed towards slaves.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics