1. Jubilee
A brief introduction to the book, its context,
and its format
2. Answer this:
Have you written any papers, essays,
that could possibly evolve into a
book?
Would you be willing to write about
the history of your family for a book
to be assigned to an undergraduate
English course?
What would you title it?
3. The Genesis of Jubilee
Based upon Walker’s maternal
grandmother – Elvira Ware Dozier
Dozier told Walker stories about slave
life in Georgia; Walker first used the
stories for a class assignment
The collected stories grew into
Walker’s dissertation
The dissertation became the book in
1966
4. “How I Wrote Jubilee”
Essay written by Walker details the
process of writing the book
From 1934-1966, the book was
written and worked on (rough drafts)
The book was completed during the
Black Arts Movement (great timing for
marketing)
Considered a slave narrative novel
A reflective history: 1966 (author) to
1839 (character)
5. Basic Framework
Based on the lives of Walker’s
maternal grandparents
Begins with a death-ends with a birth
(significant and symbolic since death gives life
reality)
Told from the point of view of a Black
woman
Focus on family and life on the
plantation
6. Consider this:
How does Walker’s present history
impact the history that she writes
about?
Does our present perspective alter
the reality of the past truth?
Can Walker be truly objective or is
fiction safer to be subjective?
Why NOT write a biography instead of
a novel of grandma Dozier?
7. Ponder this….
What is the true difference between
fiction and biography?
Are all biographies true? What then is
the difference between an authorized
biography and an unauthorized
biography?
How do you know the content of a
biography is accurate?
8. Walker states:
“I had always intended Jubilee to be a
folk novel based on folk material: folk
sayings, folk beliefs, and folkways…”
Note the title of her sections
Note the epigraphs (old spirituals and
slave songs)
Note the Biblical references
Note the language, dialect of slaves
9. General format
Follows format for slave narratives
Oral history of Vyry
The protagonist is a slave woman (a
more modern premise); most
protagonists were men
Historic references are important in
this text; look for specific references
in each section
10. Sections of the Book
Section 1 = 1839-1860 (Bondage)
Section 2 = 1861-1865 (Escape)
Section 3 = 1866-1870 (Freedom)
Section 2 coincides with the Civil War
Section 3 coincides with the
Reconstruction Period
Notes the events that occur during
each period
11. Similar to:
Harriet Tubman (Do you know who
she is?)
Maria Child – Incidents of a Life of A
Slave Girl
Other slave narratives and oral
histories of early African American
writers
Alex Haley’s Roots
12. Interesting facts
Book was never considered for a film
because of Haley’s Roots
The “seed” of the book was a
personal essay Walker had to write
for an English class
L. Hughes felt that Walker modeled
Randall off of Wright; Wright was
mad