The punished self

By Alex Bontemps

Subjects: Slaven (arbeid), Slaves, united states, social conditions, Slavery, united states, African Americans, Psychische Verarbeitung, Sources, Self-preservation, Südstaaten, Slavery, Southern states, race relations, Psychological aspects, Psychologische aspecten, Southern states, history, Slavernij, Zelfbewustzijn, Southern States, African americans, southern states, Sklaverei, Zelfwaardering, Social conditions, Slaves, History, Identity (Psychology), Psychological aspects of Slavery, Psychology, Race relations, Ethnische Beziehungen

Description: "The Punished Self describes enslavement in the American South during the eighteenth century as a systematic assault on blacks' sense of self. Alex Bontemps explores slavery's effects on the captives' framework of self-awareness and understanding. Whites wanted blacks to act out the role "Negro," forcing blacks into a basic dilemma of identity: How to retain an individualized sense of self under the intense pressure to be Negro? Bontemps addresses this dynamic in The Punished Self."--BOOK JACKET.