Charles Dickens: Censorship and Slavery
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Censorship and Control : Charles Dickens/Slavery.The reading in which was analysed for the purpose of this presentation, is entitled Charles Dickens, The American South, and The Transatlantic Debate over Slavery, by Jonathan Daniel Wells. The paper deals with the notions of slavery and capitalism, and the relationship between Dickens and his readers. Wells points out near the beginning of his study, that Dickens was employed by African-Americans to attack slavery, but came under critical attack when anti-slavery ideas were not explored. Wells points out that white southerners rejected any content produced by Dickens that dealt with slavery, but implored his styles that focused on the harshness and ill-effects that came into play as a result to Industrial Capitalism. According to the reading, Dickens first experienced the ill-sights of slavery in 1842, during a trip to America. Dickens noted how âslave auctions mocked claims to libertyâ. As Wells suggests, Dickens had a strong hatred towards slavery, but in a sense was afraid to get involved with its conflicts. Wells argued that âwhite southerners actively sought for the writers approval for slavery, while Dickens on the other hand did his best to hide his disgust, but often with little successâ. As the paper progresses, it mentions how in the 1800âs in the American South, the region had participated in transatlantic literary culture â In many regions, but mainly for white southerners, the writers publications had eventually become âweapons in the American debate over slavery and sectionalismâ. According to Wells, the many writings of Dickens had in many cases, âposed a powerful enigma for white southerners, and their attempts to fashion slavery as the best alternative to Industrial Capitalism â If Dickens had ever criticised slavery, many white southerners would reject his thoughts forcefully, and would cast him with fanatical northern and British abolitionists. It is then noted further within the reading how, within both of the writers novels and non-fiction, Dickens would weave a forceful denunciation of slavery and the deleterious effect of bondage on a societyâs economy and culture, and thus agreeing with abolitionist assessments of the slave south â Dickens believed that bondage led to depressed economies, sloth, the devaluation of work, and cultural backwardness. Although white southerners would always reject any anti-slavery content, they would also find admiration to the creativity in Dickens. In the 1830âs, in regard to Atlantic Literary culture â it had seen a dramatic expansion. However as Wells notes, for most European authors, there were no international copyright laws that would protect their property. This as Wells argued, did not sit well with the growing author, – however it had also in numerous ways, benefitted him as the absence of rules and structure in print culture helped to make readers on both sides of the Atlantic more familiar with one anotherâs works â Dickens would indeed write in response to transatlantic works he found influential. The 1800âs had very much seen a drastic rise, and acceptance with both intellectual and literary culture, but at the same time, many white southerners still fought against it, and again as Wells notes â southern readers would clamp down on any anti-slavery material such as pamphlets that would have been distributed via mail. As mentioned, white southerners found joy in relation to Dickensâ creativity, most notably with his depictions of societyâs lower orders. According to a review posted within the Southern Literary Messenger, and speaking on behalf of Dickensâ lower class representations â âhe is never indelicate, indecent, nor irreligiousâŠ. He translates nature and lifeâ. In Dickensâ later novels, such as Bleak House and Hard Times, themes in which were explored included the harsh working conditions of labour, along with the British court systems â such works were still read by both black Americans and white southerners – southerners in particular, had found deep interest in these works as according to Wellâs, âthey believed that the legal systems of the North and England were designed to buttress the wealthy at the expense of the poorâ. Wells notes that although many southerners were angered when Dickens would attack slavery,  it would not dissuade writers and editors from reviewing his works â one southerner had said that âMr Dickens has more readers at present than ever. To many southerners, after the most part of the 1840s in reading Dickens, they concluded that there was little new or striking in his antislavery ideologies â after a certain amount of time, a vast number of southerners felt that Dickens levelled the same critiques of bondage that they had been hearing for so long. In-fact, various critics had even argued that âDickens gathered all his ideas on the subject from the false and distorted representations of Northern abolitionists and fanatics, instead of coming to certain regions himself, to see the conditions of slaveryâ.
Essay About Charles Dickens And White Southerners
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Latest Update: July 9, 2021
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