John T. Matthews

Hidden in Plain Sight: Slave Capitalism in Poe, Hawthorne, and Joel Chandler Harris from John T Matthews is a detailed argument using these writers for what amounts to, in my understanding, a mass case of plausible deniability for their contemporaneous readers.

I personally found the Poe chapter the least interesting, though that is not because of Matthews but because I didn't remember enough of Pym to be able to fully decide how much I might agree or disagree. Matthews' arguments throughout this book are detailed and having the work at hand or fresh in your memory would absolutely help. Pym just happens to be one a story I never cared for very much so I wasn't willing to revisit it right now. That said, his textual points were valid based on what I could recall and in conjunction with outside sources he brought in.

I used the term plausible deniability in my opening paragraph and I don't recall whether he used that term or not. It may not be a perfectly accurate way to convey what Matthews is illustrating here but I do think it will get prospective readers started down the right road. My basic summary, and this is my understanding and may not be 100% accurate with what Matthews intended or what another reader might take away, is pretty straightforward. Even in works that didn't directly address slavery, whether in the US or abroad, even works written by authors who might not have "supported" it, it was still present but not explicitly. In referring to any economy of the time, not just the southern economy, one was acknowledging the slave trade and the global slave capitalism of the time. By shedding a positive light on that aspect it made the ugly part of the economy unseen but acceptable by proxy. Or at least not present enough so that a reader had to acknowledge their reliance on slavery and the slave trade.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in either the history or the literature. I will make one small caveat, the number of textual references moves this from a broad read for mass consumption to one geared much more for those either in academia or whose interest includes close readings and interpretations. Having said that, the book is accessibly written, there is nothing that should prevent an interested reader from gaining a great deal of insight, just be prepared to possibly reference the works and/or reread them so you can follow more easily.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mer)