Black Éléonore of Aquitaine: Using Historical Fiction to Rethink Bordeaux’s Slave Trade Past

• In Event: Spaces of Enslavement, Geographies of Dissent

Abstract

Although Bordeaux is famous for its wine and bourgeois sensibilities, people of color have also shaped this French city. To tell this story of black Bordeaux, I deploy historical research to write fiction. Written from the perspective of an enslaved girl from Martinique, my project presents several alternative geographies. First, Éléonore’s late eighteenth-century trans-Atlantic voyage to Bordeaux reverses the Middle Passage. Second, her long life in Bordeaux will provide a new view of the riverine port and its hidden alleyways and townhome interiors. Finally, the narrative power of fiction reveals an unexpected and timely story of enslavement and emancipation.

Presenter

• Lorelle Semley, College of the Holy Cross