You have to assume that the editors of the anthology gave us these particular excerpts of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl because they are some of the most important, either to the plot or to the style, themes, critical reception, etc. Yet, as I read, I did not find myself nearly as engaged as I had been in both Douglass' narrative and Stowe's novel. Granted, Jacobs' was the only one of the three I had read before, but I did not remember any of the story except that she hidden in an attic for a number of years. Still, the narrative style and the events of Jacobs' life are such that there isn't much action in the story, and particularly in the excerpts we see. Much of the action is her running away from conflict, or ruminating on her situation in her own mind. Her time in hiding or moving between houses in the North is not very interesting because the conflict is unchanging and usually distant. In comparison, the Douglass and Stowe readings contain a lot of in-scene action, violence, and emotion that make them good stories as well as interesting scholarly material. Stowe's novel has the additional advantage of multiple characters and perspectives that change location a lot to interest the reader.
My lack of engagement made me realize that simple entertainment value must have played a large role in the success or dismissal of many slave narratives. The editors tell us in Jacobs' description that she had trouble finding someone to publish her novel, and when she finally did, the outbreak of the Civil War "made it's message less pressing" so the novel did not garner notice until it was picked up by a scholar in 1980. The editors also describe the aspects of Jacobs' narrative that "differentiate the book from numerous slave narratives" produced before the Civil War. I could not help but feel the editors were trying to defend the importance of Jacobs' narrative and explain why it should be studied. While I do find her description of her time in the attic and in the North unique, they are slow portions of the novel that interest us as scholars but not necessarily readers. Even without the outbreak of the Civil War, I'm not sure Incidents would have become as popular as Uncle Tom's Cabin simply because it isn't as engaging to read.
I had an almost identical reaction to this (my second) reading of Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Of course, writing does not have to be entertaining to be Literary, but it certainly helps the capital-l title bestowal along when the text in question is enjoyable to read. I think it feels a bit strange to desire more entertainment from a slave narrative, but you're right: when compared to other slave narratives, particularly Frederick Douglass's, Jacobs' feels sluggish, even with swathes of it excised. I think the account's true value, aside from its obvious status as an important abolitionist tract, can be found in the unique perspective Jacobs bares (or bears) in detailing the events constituting her life. The reader gets a, for the most part, unadulterated voice whose owner had suffered (and likely suffered until her death) the abuses pushed forth by double oppression due to her being a black woman. There's a perverse complexity to Jacobs' relationships that form because of this, particularly in the simultaneously paternal + possessive behavior Dr. Flint exhibits towards Brent. While the delivery of the plot might leave something to be desired, there's a wealth of knowledge to be mined from the examination of the connections between characters in the climate Jacobs establishes.
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