This book reveals how writers, as explorers of collective memory and historical record, imagine cautionary Nat Turner-tales that reflect their time and beliefs. The book critically surveys how Turner inspired the cultural imagination and became a largely misunderstood and polarizing figure in the US imaginary. By locating the Turner Insurrection within the territory of historical race trauma, writers across the color-line have exposed the lasting impact of slavery on American society. As African Americans continue to endure the indignities and inequity of an insidiously racist system, servile...

This book reveals how writers, as explorers of collective memory and historical record, imagine cautionary Nat Turner-tales that reflect their time and beliefs. The book critically surveys how Turner inspired the cultural imagination and became a largely misunderstood and polarizing figure in the US imaginary. By locating the Turner Insurrection within the territory of historical race trauma, writers across the color-line have exposed the lasting impact of slavery on American society. As African Americans continue to endure the indignities and inequity of an insidiously racist system, servile...