Characteristics of Arabic slave narratives

Abstract EN

Arabic slave narratives were written by Muslim Africans who came from the Central and western Coast of Africa and the Southern Sahara.

These narratives written in antebellum America had a number of characteristics.

They open with a statement and reference to the history of the narrator, giving an account of his being enslaved and brought to America.

Moreover, in these narratives, the editor and the translator interfered and improved the diction.

By using the Arabic language, the slave felt that the he had control over his identity.

Like other slave narratives, the slave attempted to escape from slavery by means of flight.

Finally, the narrative's significance lied in the fact that they are part of the Afro-American literature in the nineteenth century