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Women's Indian Captivity Narratives

Author Various
Edited by Kathryn Derounian-Stodola
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Paperback
$22.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
5.1"W x 7.7"H x 0.85"D  
On sale Nov 01, 1998 | 400 Pages | 9780140436716
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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Enthralling generations of readers, the narrative of capture by Native Americans is arguably the first American literary form dominated by the experiences of women. The ten selections in this anthology span the early history of this country (1682-1892) and range in literary style from fact-based narrations to largely fictional, spellbinding adventure stories. The women are variously victimized, triumphant, or, in the case of Mary Jemison, permantently transculturated. This collection includes well known pieces such as Mary Rowlandson's "A True History" (1682), Cotton Mather's version of Hannah Dunstan's infamous captivity and escape (after scalping her captors!), and the "Panther Captivity", as well as lesser known texts. As Derounian-Stodola demonstrates in the introduction, the stories also raise questions about the motives of their (often male) narrators and promoters, who in many cases embellish melodrama to heighten anti-British and anti-Indian propaganda, shape the tales for ecclesiastical purposes, or romanticize them to exploit the growing popularity of sentimental fiction in order to boost sales.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The improbable life story of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) included a peculiarly gothic childhood in Ireland during which he was successively abandoned by his mother, his father and his guardian; two decades in the United States, where he worked as a journalist and was sacked for marrying a former slave; and a long period in Japan, where he married a Japanese woman and wrote about Japanese society and aesthetics for a Western readership. His ghost stories, which were drawn from Japanese folklore and influenced by Buddhist beliefs, appeared in collections throughout the 1890s and 1900s. He is a much celebrated figure in Japan. View titles by Various
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION BY KATHRYN ZABELLE DEROUNIAN-STODOLA
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
A NOTE ON THE TEXTS

Mary Rowlandson:
A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)

Hannah Dustan:
A Notable Exploit; wherein, Dux Faemina Facti, from Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather (1702)

Elizabeth Hanson:
God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty, Exemplified in the Captivity and Redemption of Elizabeth Hanson (1728)

"Panther Captivity":
A Surprising Account of the Discovery of a Lady Who Was Taken by the Indians by Abraham Panther (1787)

Jemima Howe:
A Genuine and Correct Account of the Captivity, Sufferings and Deliverance of Mrs. Jemima Howe by Bunker Gay (1792)

Mary Kinnan:
A True Narrative of the Sufferings of Mary Kinnan by Shepard Kollock (1795)

Mary Jemison:
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison by James E. Seaver (1824)

Mary Godfrey:
An Authentic Narrative of the Seminole War, and of the Miraculous Escape of Mrs. Mary Godfrey, and Her Four Female Children (1836)

Sarah F. Wakefield:
Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Indian Captivity (1864)

Emeline L. Fuller:
Left by the Indians. Story of My Life (1892)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

About

Enthralling generations of readers, the narrative of capture by Native Americans is arguably the first American literary form dominated by the experiences of women. The ten selections in this anthology span the early history of this country (1682-1892) and range in literary style from fact-based narrations to largely fictional, spellbinding adventure stories. The women are variously victimized, triumphant, or, in the case of Mary Jemison, permantently transculturated. This collection includes well known pieces such as Mary Rowlandson's "A True History" (1682), Cotton Mather's version of Hannah Dunstan's infamous captivity and escape (after scalping her captors!), and the "Panther Captivity", as well as lesser known texts. As Derounian-Stodola demonstrates in the introduction, the stories also raise questions about the motives of their (often male) narrators and promoters, who in many cases embellish melodrama to heighten anti-British and anti-Indian propaganda, shape the tales for ecclesiastical purposes, or romanticize them to exploit the growing popularity of sentimental fiction in order to boost sales.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Author

The improbable life story of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) included a peculiarly gothic childhood in Ireland during which he was successively abandoned by his mother, his father and his guardian; two decades in the United States, where he worked as a journalist and was sacked for marrying a former slave; and a long period in Japan, where he married a Japanese woman and wrote about Japanese society and aesthetics for a Western readership. His ghost stories, which were drawn from Japanese folklore and influenced by Buddhist beliefs, appeared in collections throughout the 1890s and 1900s. He is a much celebrated figure in Japan. View titles by Various

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION BY KATHRYN ZABELLE DEROUNIAN-STODOLA
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
A NOTE ON THE TEXTS

Mary Rowlandson:
A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)

Hannah Dustan:
A Notable Exploit; wherein, Dux Faemina Facti, from Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather (1702)

Elizabeth Hanson:
God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty, Exemplified in the Captivity and Redemption of Elizabeth Hanson (1728)

"Panther Captivity":
A Surprising Account of the Discovery of a Lady Who Was Taken by the Indians by Abraham Panther (1787)

Jemima Howe:
A Genuine and Correct Account of the Captivity, Sufferings and Deliverance of Mrs. Jemima Howe by Bunker Gay (1792)

Mary Kinnan:
A True Narrative of the Sufferings of Mary Kinnan by Shepard Kollock (1795)

Mary Jemison:
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison by James E. Seaver (1824)

Mary Godfrey:
An Authentic Narrative of the Seminole War, and of the Miraculous Escape of Mrs. Mary Godfrey, and Her Four Female Children (1836)

Sarah F. Wakefield:
Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Indian Captivity (1864)

Emeline L. Fuller:
Left by the Indians. Story of My Life (1892)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

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