633. We
talk to Heidi Kim about her research into the novel,
Vieux Salomon. "Set in Guadeloupe, New Orleans,
the surrounding Louisiana plantations, and briefly in other areas of the
South, this is a key text of the history of slavery in Louisiana and
the Deep South. There is obviously a difference between memoirs and
novels in terms of perception and claims to nonfiction. However, in U.S.
antislavery literature, both usually attempted to appeal to the same
white mainstream readership (with the exception in this case of Testut’s
audience being French-speaking and largely Catholic). Most claimed
realism; even novels asserted that they depicted events that had
happened or were familiar, even if the characters were fictional." "Heidi’s research and teaching ranges through 19th-21st century American
literature, with specializations in the Japanese American incarceration
of World War II, law and literature, and the Cold War period. She has
also published on Walt Whitman and antislavery literature, including the
partial translation of Louisiana Francophone novel
Le Vieux Salomon, and collaborated on interdisciplinary environmental research" (
Kim).
