Mythes,
Croyances et Religions du Monde Anglo-Saxon, vol. XI,
1993, p. 145--156.
Anne Foata
Bras-Coupé, esclave et héros rédempteur
dans The Grandissimes de George
Washington Cable
Abstract.
The story of the slave Bras-Coupé is the linchpin of Cable's novel, The
Grandissimes (1880) set in New Orleans at the time of the
Louisiana Purchase. It reverberates through the narrative, defines the
characters' actions and reactions, and bears the burden of Cable's message.
Bras-Coupé, the black shadow embedded in the whites' consciousness, is the
blemish that mars the Creole society of 1804 as well as the Southern society
at large in Cable's time. Either by ``way of strife'' or by ``way of peace,''
through violence or the good will of his fellow Americans, Bras-Coupé will
eventually change the plight of the African Americans and the whites'
attitude toward them.
anne2.foata@wanadoo.fr
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