Postcolonial Slavery ─ An Overview of Colonialism's Legacy

Editors Baker (French, Lancaster U., UK) and Jahn (Martinican women's writing, U. of Cambridge, UK) have collected eight research papers from research students in Europe and the US to discuss postcolonial slavery legacies on the 200th anniversary of the passing of British law banning the slave trade. Written for students and scholars, these essays take a novel approach to the realities of slavery and French and British colonial practices by examining how historic misrepresentations and revisionism have affected narratives of transplantation, the middle passage and "the fracturing of the collective memory." An afterword by Dominic Thomas explores slavery in global contexts and praises the new body of recent research that rethinks the relationship between French and Francophone studies. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Charlotte Baker is Lecturer in French in the Department of European Languages and Cultures at Lancaster University. Her research interests focus on 20th century French and Francophone African literature, and particularly on the representation of marginalised and stigmatised groups in Africa. Jennifer Jahn has recently completed her PhD on Martinican Women's Writing at the University of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College. She is interested in contemporary French and Francophone island literature by women with a focus on socio-political issues and the legacy of colonialism.