Jubilee

A brief introduction to the book, its context, and its format

Answer this:

Have you written any papers, essays, that could possibly evolve into a book?

Would you be willing to write about the history of your family for a book to be assigned to an undergraduate English course?

What would you title it?

The Genesis of Jubilee

Based upon Walker’s maternal grandmother – Elvira Ware Dozier

Dozier told Walker stories about slave life in Georgia; Walker first used the stories for a class assignment

The collected stories grew into Walker’s dissertation

The dissertation became the book in 1966

“How I Wrote Jubilee” Essay written by Walker details the

process of writing the book From 1934-1966, the book was

written and worked on (rough drafts) The book was completed during the

Black Arts Movement (great timing for marketing)

Considered a slave narrative novel A reflective history: 1966 (author) to

1839 (character)

Basic Framework

Based on the lives of Walker’s maternal grandparents

Begins with a death-ends with a birth (significant and symbolic since death gives life reality)

Told from the point of view of a Black woman

Focus on family and life on the plantation

Consider this: How does Walker’s present history

impact the history that she writes about?

Does our present perspective alter the reality of the past truth?

Can Walker be truly objective or is fiction safer to be subjective?

Why NOT write a biography instead of a novel of grandma Dozier?

Ponder this….

What is the true difference between fiction and biography?

Are all biographies true? What then is the difference between an authorized biography and an unauthorized biography?

How do you know the content of a biography is accurate?

Walker states:

“I had always intended Jubilee to be a folk novel based on folk material: folk sayings, folk beliefs, and folkways…”

Note the title of her sections Note the epigraphs (old spirituals and

slave songs) Note the Biblical references Note the language, dialect of slaves

General format

Follows format for slave narratives Oral history of Vyry The protagonist is a slave woman (a

more modern premise); most protagonists were men

Historic references are important in this text; look for specific references in each section

Sections of the Book

Section 1 = 1839-1860 (Bondage) Section 2 = 1861-1865 (Escape) Section 3 = 1866-1870 (Freedom) Section 2 coincides with the Civil War Section 3 coincides with the

Reconstruction Period Notes the events that occur during

each period

Similar to:

Harriet Tubman (Do you know who she is?)

Maria Child – Incidents of a Life of A Slave Girl

Other slave narratives and oral histories of early African American writers

Alex Haley’s Roots

Interesting facts

Book was never considered for a film because of Haley’s Roots

The “seed” of the book was a personal essay Walker had to write for an English class

L. Hughes felt that Walker modeled Randall off of Wright; Wright was mad