View the H-Slavery Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in H-Slavery's February 2010 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in H-Slavery's February 2010 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the H-Slavery home page.
1. From: evonelibra@aol.com [mailto:evonelibra@aol.com] I had researched the etymology of the word "slave" in the Oxford English Dictionary. I discovered that the word has its origin in the experience of the capture and selling into bondage of the nations who called themselves "Slavs." Africans whom were captured and sold into bondage after the nation-name had been adopted and adapted by the Western European nations and England, were referred to by this name. It seems that the idea was to duplicate the state of bondage inflicted on the "Slavs"; this being the case, then, "enslaved" appears to be the more correct term, i.e. "slavinized Africans." Even "slave" became valid for me once I realized the word's origin and inclusion in many major Western European idioms. Felton Perry 2. From: aciolilopes@USP.BR Dear all, perhaps this is not the main point addressed by Jenny Shaw, however, even if "enslaved" sounds as an euphemism, as far as I know most African carried away as slaves were not slaves in Africa, at least until they were enslaved and handed over to European or American traders. Respectfully, Gustavo Acioli USP/FACAMP (Sao Paulo/Brasil). 3. From: maxdashu@LMI.NET I think Gail Swanson has it right: "slave" conveys the sense of an owned object. "Slave" is a political status, not an identity. The history is all too real, and no one is trying to paper that over, certainly not because of shame. The reason people have advocated using "enslaved" was to look at that history from another angle, to highlight the acts that led to humans being held in bondage, the agency of slavers and slaveholders. It's a mistake to think of "enslaved" as only applying to African captives, but not their descendants in the Americas. Enslavement was an ongoing process backed by force, whether it was corporal punishment, killing, withholding necessities, sexual coercion, capture of those who escaped, the constant selling and auctioning of human beings. And let's not forget, also the recapture of free Blacks, and enslavement of Indian people who stayed on their overrun lands. " Enslaved" points up the agency of slaveholders, and it makes people think about subjugation, the people who suffered it, and maybe not just stop at "slave" as a familiar given. I'm not advocating exclusively using "enslaved" or never using "slave," but an expansive naming that adds these crucial insights to the historical discussion. Max
|