Abstract
This essay discusses teaching The History of Mary Prince at a Hispanic Serving Institution via Ethnic Studies praxis. It develops Nicole Aljoe’s definition of Prince’s narrative as counter-story and testimonio and explores the undisciplining effects of reading Prince’s history as relevant to the lives of Borderlands students. To understand the multiple meanings of “undisciplining’ this essay draws on the theory of Sylvia Wynter and shows how Prince’s testimonio offers an alternative to Western epistemologies via communal resistance and resurgence. Several pedagogic tools are explored for teaching Prince in this way.
Keywords
Undiscipling, testimonio, counter-story, unsilencing, undercommons, Mary Prince, Baron de Vastey, Michel Trouillot, Sylvia Wynter, Ethnic Studies, Borderlands.
Recommended Citation
Sinanan, Kerry
(2023)
"Mary Prince’s Undisciplining Lessons: Counter-Narrative and Testimonio in The History,"
ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830: Vol.13: Iss.1, Article 11.
http://doi.org/10.5038/2157-7129.13.1.1352
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/abo/vol13/iss1/11
Included in
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons
