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Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Czarist Russia > Item 241
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Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol
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by Nell Irvin Painter
Sales Rank: 96944
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List Price: $17.95
$12.21
At Amazon
on 9-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
Published by: W. W. Norton & Company October 1997
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0393317080
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393317084
Book Dimensions:
8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
Weighs: 14.4 ounces
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol (Hardcover)
Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol undertakes an interesting challenge as historian Nell Irvin Painter attempts to produce a "historically accurate" biography of a subject that left little evidence of her life. Moreover, Painter takes on another interesting challenge by attempting to analyze the meaning of Sojourner Truth the symbol-a task that requires her to analyze the layers of evidence produced by those who did document Sojourner Truth's life. Is she successful at producing a historically "accurate" biography? Does she successfully "peel back the myth and the legend" in the evidence left by those who documented Truth's life? I think Painter is somewhat successful at presenting a historically accurate biography. I say somewhat because, on the one hand, she presents compelling evidence assembled from primary sources that document Truth's life-newspaper accounts, monographs, etc. And she obviously has a thorough command of the secondary sources related to Sojourner Truth. What is more, I think that her methodology-what she calls "more or less uncommon research methods"-allows her to reconstruct a version of Truth's life as best as possible. Assembling the pieces of an immense jigsaw puzzle such as this requires great patience and historical skill, both of which Painter exhibits in this work. On the other hand, her command of the supporting sources, the sources that provide context for her analysis of the primary sources, is a little less complete. For example, as Painter acknowledges, religion-popular religion-is central to understanding American culture. And I think that in this case, one must have a thorough understanding of religion and the Bible to effectively document Truth's life. However, Painter makes at least one glaring mistake in her narrative when she conflates the stories of Lazarus the beggar, and Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha (p. 127). Painter makes this fundamental error in her analysis of Truth's speech in an apparent attempt to interject an element of "class consciousness" into Truth's abolitionist-feminist discourse. Jesus did not resurrect Lazarus the beggar. Jesus resurrected Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha, a well-respected and influential patron (the Lazarus to whom Truth refers). Does a gaff such as this mortally wound the entire analysis? Probably not. But, in a book that so heavily relies on "imaginative methods" and "unknowns," it is probably a good idea to have command of the "knowns"-in this case the New Testament. This analytical error also points to problems in answering the question concerning whether Painter succeeds in "peeling back the myth and legend." Persons who produced the majority of the evidence that Painter uses had a vested interest in Truth the symbol, which eventually led to the perpetuation of myth and legend. Truth is often used to advance causes such as abolitionism and feminism. And while Painter dismisses those who have used Truth the symbol and perpetuated myth and legend, she is left with little without this evidence. In the end Painter concedes that one can not separate the symbol and the person without destroying the "cultural significance" of Sojourner Truth. Cultural significance trumps historical accuracy in the final chapter. And paradoxically, it appears Painter falls into the same trap as her predecessors as she "peels back" the myth and legend. Her analysis on pages 126 and 127 (and in other places throughout the book) strongly suggests that she is adding her own layers and doing to Sojourner Truth, what others-the ones she dismisses-have done.
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Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol
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Price: $12.21
Updated on 9-16-2008.
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