Identity Construction In Olaudah Equiano's Autobiographical Narrative

Olaudah Equiano(1745-1797)is a freed slave in the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a voice for poor Africans and a prominent leading figure in abolitionist literature from the eighteenth century.He is known for his autobiography,The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano(1789),which contributed to effecting the Slave Trade Act 1807.Up to now,researchers mainly study it by exploring its influence on the abolitionist policy or the authenticity of authorship.However,a systematic study of the text genre as a kind of identity construction in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano has not been attempted.Therefore,this paper attempts to outline the development course of the autobiography in Western culture and explicate the controversy surrounding the authenticity of authorship and autobiographical accounts.On the basis of close reading,“autobiography” as a means of constructing problematic identity in Equiano's narrative,especially racial identity,religious identity,and national identity,is called into focus,thus revealing the dual nature of referentiality and fictionality of autobiographies as a pact between autobiographers and readers.