The story of the eighteenthcentury slave ship zong is one that continues to haunt the imaginations of artists and. Nourbese philip is an afrosporic caribbean writer poet, novelist, playwright, and essayist known for her dedication to social justice, as well as for her experiments with literary form, particularly her well known 1989 text, she tries her tongue, her silence softly breaks. The zong gregson v gilbert 1783 3 doug 232, 99 er 629, 1783 engr 85 22 may 1783 is an infamous case. The resulting court case, brought as a civil action by the shipowners seeking compensation from the insurers for the slavetraders lost cargo, was a landmark in the battle against the. Its subject is heavy, drawing from the forced drowning of enslaved people on a slave ship called the zong. Given its bankruptcy filing in the previous year, the city clearly saw its massive backlog of about 165,000 delinquent accounts as an opportunity to generate. The course is critical thinking, composition, and literature. The gregson slavetrading syndicate, based in liverpool, owned the ship and sailed her in the atlantic slave trade.
Nourbese philip is a poet, writer, and lawyer whose previous collections of poetry include she tries her tongue, her silence softly breaks 1989. Robin pacifics longstanding support of my work has been significant. The gregsons competence and efficiency were not reflected in the labors of captain collingwood. Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at jacket2. She tries her tongue, her silence softly breaks isbn.
As was common business practice, they had taken out insurance on the lives of the slaves as cargo. It concerned a claim against an insurer for the value of slaves thrown overboard from the zong to allow the crew to survive a chronic lack of drinking water. Pdf marlene nourbese philips zong there is no telling. In march of 2014, detroits water and sewage department dwsd announced that it would begin shutting off water access to clients with outstanding accounts. But language may be used to very different ends in each realm. She is the author of four books of poetry, including zong. Law and poetry both share an inexorable concern with language. Born in tobago, she now resides in toronto, ontario. Those still confused about why poetry might fracture and splinter and stutter can find an answer in the work of m. Marlene nourbese philip born 3 february 1947, usually credited as m. The groundbreaking seminal collection by the author of zong. Nourbese philip, 9780819571694, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. She is the first anglophone woman, and the second canadian, to win the prize. At times im uncomfortable with both poetry and history, but then a book like zong.
Poetry as archival work in muriel rukeyser, susan howe, and m. As readers, we are not merely consuming the poem, which emerges from philips reading of a 1781 court decision regarding a slave massacre. Nourbese philip, this project seeks to understand how poetry becomes a tool for and critique of academic work. The zong massacre was the mass killing of more than african slaves by the crew of the british slave ship zong on and in the days following 29 november 1781.
Redactive reading and feminist provocations to history in m. Brilliant, lyrical and passionate, she tries her tongue is an extended jazz riff on the themes of language, racism, colonialism and exile. Norbese philip, invokes the memory of enslaved africans on the dutch ship zong in 1781, of whom 150 were thrown overboard and drowned on the way to jamaica so that the ships owners could collect on the insurance. Poetry and law may seem to some as incommensurable as dancing and architecture. Tonya foster generously read the manuscript and offered skilled and helpful suggestions.
Nourbese philip as told to the author by setaeyadamu boateng. Pdfs to read on your personal device during collective readings of zong. A reader, edited by patrick williams and laura chrisman, colombia university press, 1994. James walvin has called the zong case stemming from a 1781 incident in which the crew of an english slave ship willfully destroyed more than onethird of the cargo i.
I approached the book with a feeling that this poem was crucial and i needed to catch up with what my friends had experienced. Marlene nourbese philips zong there is no telling this story, it must be translated by linda barone, roberto masone1 abstract inspired by the text of the. Equal parts song, moan, shout, oath, ululation, curse, and chant, zong. Memory, history, and law collide and metamorphose into the poetics of the fragment. Its poems are translingual and rely on blank space, signaling both the inaccessibility and traumatic nature of this history. Project muse she tries her tongue, her silence softly breaks. Nourbese philip reads from zong at the arrata opera centre in calgary. Nourbese philip is available at in several formats for your ereader. Relying entirely on the words of the legal decision gregson v. If you have any questions or experience problems with our site, please contact. In l965, when graduating from bishop anstey high school, m.
Nourbese philip was awarded the cipriani memorial scholarship for standing first in a caribbean wide examination at the high school level. Reading for belladonna, poets house, new york city, june 1, 2019. Nourbese philip presents three case studies of contemporary women poets sustained interventions in conventional methods of archival recovery. Nourbese philip is a poet, essayist, novelist, and playwright who was born in tobago, in the twin island state of trinidad and tobago, and now lives in toronto. The claim succeeded at first instance, but failed on appeal before lord mansfield and willis and buller jj. Nourbese philip is a poet and writer and lawyer who lives in the city of toronto. Gilbertthe only extant public document related to the massacre of these african slaveszong. Reflecting on, reframing, and revising approaches to texts.
Christina sharpes scholarship first made me aware that this book. Pdf inspired by the text of the legal decision gregson vs gilbert, known as the zong case, marlene nourbese philip develops in zong. In november, 1781, the captain of the slave ship zong ordered that some 150 africans be murdered by drowning so that the ships owners could collect insurance monies. The legal battle for compensation was, however, lost by the ships owners, not because the act was seen as murder it was not but because the throwing. Please see the attached pdf it allows for philips use of space, which i cant seem to recreate on this page. Nourbese philip, is a canadian poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. Accompanied by amanda ngoho reavey on the cello naropa university, jack kerouac school of disembodied poetics summer writing program, 2014. The tragic lost of life of over one hundred and forty slaves thrown overboard during its journey to the new world is an atrocity that has escaped mention in the largely uscentered perspective of textbooks one frequently encounters in high school and even.
As i sit here designing and prepping for a course i have not taught before, i reflect, as always, on previous texts, pairings, and themes i have used in the past. While the judges locked themselves within the discourse of maritime law in evaluating the cases. Outside of the history world, the word zong and the event to which it refers is virtually unknown. Mike minions of okanagan college captured this great footage of m. In all of her work she examines themes of gender, race, colonialism, and the effects of language, playing with words. The zong massacre was a masskilling of african slaves that took place on november 29th, 1781, on the zong, a british slave ship owned by james gregson and colleagues in a liverpool slavetrading firm. Through the innovative use of fugal and counterpointed repetition, zong. Nourbese philip constructs her texts in the belief that this is.
124 1486 354 454 1170 1569 1398 528 287 814 1544 1455 1429 279 1332 1308 599 839 8 749 20 22 1230 1216 983 1298 303 617 990 1081 735 824