This study focuses on the importance of domestic concerns in the slave narratives of Henry Bibb and William and Ellen Craft. It argues that because Frederick Douglass' 1845 Narrative has become the model in literary criticism on the slave narrative, critics have not fully explored the importance of marriage and family in ante-bellum black literature, nor adequately examined variations in thematic and formal conventions among slave narratives, these variations reflecting the very different life experiences of the narrators.;Bibb's slave wife and child account for a recursive pattern of escape and return to the South and his use of silences and "anachronic' acts of narration. Bibb's awareness that his slave marriage will end in "divorce" results in extensive authentication and a sophisticated division between his evolving protagonist and his informed narrator. The Crafts' mutual dependence is reflected in their sustained use of masquerade, dramatic irony, and embedded narratives. Their unique, collaborative narrative voice emphasizes their marital unity in slavery, in freedom, and in telling their story.;In examining the narratives of Bibb and the Crafts, this study uses comparisons and references to the narratives of Douglass, William Wells Brown, James W. C. Pennington, and Harriet Jacobs as well as concepts from several narratologists, such as Gerard Genette, Tzvetan Todorov, and Gerald Prince, to clarify significant breaks with the current view of slave narratives.;Finally, the study explores the literary influence of slave narratives, especially those with domestic concerns, on Frederick Douglass' novella, "The Heroic Slave," and thus establishes not only the influence of the slave narratives on black fiction but also a definite interest in domesticity among ante-bellum African-American male writers.
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