Abstract
In this chapter, two out of the three themes deemed necessary for the effectuation of one’s internal force of being are developed: (1) engaging sacred spaces of play and interior reflection and (2) practicing agency over the body. Through key examples taken from his autobiographies, I demonstrate that using liminal spaces of imagination as well as practicing agency over his body both served to prop up the subjectivity of Frederick Douglass.
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Notes
- 1.
I use this term to challenge a common approach to epistemology that prioritizes “ways of knowing” via cerebral or noetic conceptions. In this instance, Douglass’ deconstruction of the slave religious creed seems to have emanated from the persecution his body incurred. The implications for practical theology and the related praxis is significant for marginalized/victimized persons and groups whose bodies have been abused, marred, or ostracized due to interpersonal or structural evil and oppression .
- 2.
My emphasis.
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Gibson, D.G. (2018). A New Birth: Agency Over One’s Self and Body and Sacred Spaces of Play. In: Frederick Douglass, a Psychobiography. Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75229-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75229-7_4
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