A Post-Colonial Study of Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) and Mary Henderson Eastmans Aunt Phylliss Cabin (1852)
This paper is a comparative study of two postcolonial novels written in the nineteenth century: Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Aunt Phillis’s Cabin (1852) by Mary Henderson Eastman. Each novelist convinces her readers of her stance on slavery. Stowe’s post-colonial fiction stands against the then dominant discourse of slavery, whilst Eastman accords with contemporary pro-slavery views, refuting Stowe’s novel defending the institution of slavery. The paper comprises three sections. The first introduces the theoretical framework for the study, and a literature review about the practice of slavery in Africa, alongside a prefatory note about reviews of different postcolonial narratives and perspectives. The second section provides an analysis and presentation of key portrayals of religion, racism and feminism in the two novels. It also illustrates the post-modern techniques and methods employed by the two novelists. Both writers effectively use techniques such as: intertextuality, juxtaposition, satire, breaking the fourth wall, reader involvement, and so on. The third section presents a discussion of the results and the research conclusion, illuminating the results of the research. In summary, the study explains that language and literature combine to construct the post-colonial binary of an American self and a non-American Other, underlining colonial authority. Moreover, both writers interpolate their colonial subjects by incorporating them into a system of representation. Whether the American novelist favors or opposes slavery, the study of colonial discourse leads us to a fuller understanding of colonial institutions.
