Freedom As a 'Way of Seeing': The Presence of Taoism In Oxherding Tale
A distinctive feature of Charles Johnson's Oxherding Tale involves his adoption of Taoism, which is also a novelty for African American literature. Drawing on Chuang Tzu's philosophy of freedom, this paper discusses how Johnson resorts to Taoism for inspiration in this novel so as to trans...
| Published in: | The journal of religious history, literature and culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Wales Press
[2018]
|
| In: |
The journal of religious history, literature and culture
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | A distinctive feature of Charles Johnson's Oxherding Tale involves his adoption of Taoism, which is also a novelty for African American literature. Drawing on Chuang Tzu's philosophy of freedom, this paper discusses how Johnson resorts to Taoism for inspiration in this novel so as to transcend the narrowly defined conception of slavery and freedom in traditional slave narratives. From Chuang Tzu's perspective, our ability to be free or not depends on our ability to 'make all things equal'. This implies giving up our dualistic cognitive ability, or the ability to make distinction among things. In Johnson's opinion, Chuang Tzu's teachings will prove to be a source of enlightenment for the black American readers that have been harassed by the problem of slavery and freedom for a long period of time. Centering upon Johnson's descriptions of Reb, George, Bannon, and Andrew, this paper analyzes the significance of Taoism in understanding each character's approach to freedom or to slavery. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2057-4525 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of religious history, literature and culture
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.16922/jrhlc.4.1.1 |