'Our Nig' and the She-Devil. Political Structures of Racism in Harriet E. Wilson's 'Two-Story House, North'

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, language: English, abstract: This paper seeks to deconstruct structures of racism based on white female power. Harriet E.Wilson's 'Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story White House, North. Showing that Slavery's Shadows Fall Even There' achieved historical significance as it is considered to be the first novel published by an African American woman in the United States. Published in 1859, it tells the life story of Frado, a free mulatto who is abandoned by her mother to the white Bellmont's house, where she is enslaved by the 'she -devil' Mrs. Bellmont In order to understand the racial ideology which Wilson exposes in 'Our Nig', the author will first outline the historical and social -political landscape in 19th century North America, which is known to be abolitionist in contrast to the South and secondly put Wilson's work in a literary context. Subsequently, she will examine the white middle -class ideology as a structure of power, which allows white women to exert power and authority over black women in the domestic sphere. To achieve this, I will deconstruct the terms Femininity and Domesticity.