Venus in Two Acts

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

There are hundreds of thousands of other girls who share Venus's circumstances, and these circumstances have generated few stories.

“There are hundreds of thousands of other girls who share her circumstances and these circumstances have generated few stories.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

No one remembered Venus's name or recorded the things she said, or observed that she refused to say anything at all.

“Hers is the same fate as every other Black Venus: no one remembered her name or recorded the things she said, or observed that she refused to say anything at all.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Falconbridge reported that common sailors were allowed to have intercourse with black women whose consent they could procure, and some took the inconstancy of their paramours so much to heart as to leap overboard and drown themselves.

“On board some ships, the common sailors are allowed to have intercourse with such of the black women whose consent they can procure. And some of them have been known to take the inconstancy of their paramours so much to heart, as to leap overboard and drown themselves.”

• cites Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave TradeNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

Captain John Kimber was indicted for having beaten and tortured a female slave so as to cause her death, and again indicted for having caused the death of another female slave.

“The captain, John Kimber, was indicted for having 'feloniously, wickedly and with malice aforethought, beaten and tortured a female slave, so as to cause her death: and he was again indicted for having caused the death of another female slave.'”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The trial transcript and related documents accurately record the events and testimony they describe.

May combine two claims.

On 7 June 1792, Mr. Pigot, counsel for the prisoner, cross-examined surgeon Thomas Dowling, one of two crew witnesses who testified they had seen Captain John Kimber murder a Negro girl, and bellowed the name Venus.

“On 7 June 1792, Mr. Pigot, the counsel for the prisoner, bellowed the name Venus in his cross-examination of the surgeon Thomas Dowling, one of the two witnesses from the crew of the ship who testified that they had seen Captain John Kimber murder a Negro girl.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The trial transcript and related documents accurately record the events and testimony they describe.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

According to surgeon Thomas Dowling's testimony, Captain Kimber flogged a Negro girl repeatedly with a whip and successively for several days, very severely, causing her death.

“According to the surgeon's testimony, the captain flogged her repeatedly with a whip and 'successively for several days, very severely' causing her death.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The trial transcript and related documents accurately record the events and testimony they describe.

May combine two claims.

Venus was not the Negro girl whom Dowling testified Kimber murdered, but another girl who died at the hands of the captain and was mentioned briefly during the trial.

“Venus was not that Negro girl but another one who died at the hands of the captain and who was mentioned briefly during the trial.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The trial transcript and related documents accurately record the events and testimony they describe.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

What we know of Venus in her many guises amounts to little more than a register of her encounter with power and provides a meager sketch of her existence.

“I could say after a famous philosopher that what we know of Venus in her many guises amounts to 'little more than a register of her encounter with power' and that it provides 'a meager sketch of her existence.'”

• cites Foucault, 'Lives of Infamous Men,'Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

We only know what can be extrapolated from an analysis of the ledger or borrowed from the world of her captors and masters and applied to Venus.

“We only know what can be extrapolated from an analysis of the ledger or borrowed from the world of her captors and masters and applied to her.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

What has been said and what can be said about Venus take for granted the traffic between fact, fantasy, desire, and violence.

“What has been said and what can be said about Venus take for granted the traffic between fact, fantasy, desire, and violence.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

It is much too late for the accounts of death to prevent other deaths; and it is much too early for such scenes of death to halt other crimes.

“It is much too late for the accounts of death to prevent other deaths; and it is much too early for such scenes of death to halt other crimes.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The necessity of recounting Venus's death is overshadowed by the inevitable failure of any attempt to represent her.

“The necessity of recounting Venus's death is overshadowed by the inevitable failure of any attempt to represent her.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

The promiscuity of the archive begets a wide array of reading, but none that are capable of resuscitating the girl.

“The promiscuity of the archive begets a wide array of reading, but none that are capable of resuscitating the girl.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The irreparable violence of the Atlantic slave trade resides precisely in all the stories that we cannot know and that will never be recovered.

“The irreparable violence of the Atlantic slave trade resides precisely in all the stories that we cannot know and that will never be recovered.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Those existences relegated to the nonhistorical or deemed waste exercise a claim on the present and demand us to imagine a future in which the afterlife of slavery has ended.

“those existences relegated to the nonhistorical or deemed waste exercise a claim on the present and demand us to imagine a future in which the afterlife of slavery has ended.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: The afterlife of slavery has not ended.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The archive yields no exhaustive account of the girl's life, but catalogues the statements that licensed her death.

“The archive yields no exhaustive account of the girl's life, but catalogues the statements that licensed her death.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Venus makes plain the intimacy of history with the scandal and excess of literature.

“the intimacy of history with the scandal and excess of literature”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The libidinal investment in violence is everywhere apparent in the documents, statements and institutions that decide our knowledge of the past.

“The libidinal investment in violence is everywhere apparent in the documents, statements and institutions that decide our knowledge of the past.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The stories that exist about enslaved girls are not about them, but about the violence, excess, mendacity, and reason that seized hold of their lives, transformed them into commodities and corpses, and identified them with names tossed-off as insults and crass jokes.

“And the stories that exist are not about them, but rather about the violence, excess, mendacity, and reason that seized hold of their lives, transformed them into commodities and corpses, and identified them with names tossed-off as insults and crass jokes.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Venus is an emblematic figure of the enslaved woman in the Atlantic world.

“As an emblematic figure of the enslaved woman in the Atlantic world, Venus makes plain the convergence of terror and pleasure in the libidinal economy of slavery and, as well, the intimacy of history with the scandal and excess of literature.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Venus makes plain the convergence of terror and pleasure in the libidinal economy of slavery.

“Venus makes plain the convergence of terror and pleasure in the libidinal economy of slavery”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The condition of the ex-slave is defined by vulnerability to premature death and to gratuitous acts of violence.

“the precarious life of the ex-slave, a condition defined by the vulnerability to premature death and to gratuitous acts of violence.”

• cites Mbembe, On the PostcolonyNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Narrative is central to the effort to reconstruct the past because of the relation it poses, explicit or implied, between past, presents and futures.

“Narrative is central to this effort because of 'the relation it poses, explicit or implied, between past, presents and futures.'40”

• cites David Scott, Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), 7.Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

In retelling the story of what happened on board the Recovery, the author has emphasized the incommensurability between prevailing discourses and the event, amplified the instability and discrepancy of the archive, flouted the realist illusion customary in the writing of history, and produced a counter-history at the intersection of the fictive and the historical.

“In retelling the story of what happened on board the Recovery , I have emphasized the incommensurability between the prevailing discourses and the event, amplified the instability and discrepancy of the archive, flouted the realist illusion customary in the writing of history, and produced a counter-history at the intersection of the fictive and the historical.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

History pledges to be faithful to the limits of fact, evidence, and archive, even as those dead certainties are produced by terror.

“History pledges to be faithful to the limits of fact, evidence, and archive, even as those dead certainties are produced by terror.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The archive is inseparable from the play of power that murdered Venus and her shipmate and exonerated the captain.

“The archive is inseparable from the play of power that murdered Venus and her shipmate and exonerated the captain.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The author's account replicates the very order of violence that it writes against by placing yet another demand upon the girl, by requiring that her life be made useful or instructive, by finding in it a lesson for our future or a hope for history.

“My account replicates the very order of violence that it writes against by placing yet another demand upon the girl, by requiring that her life be made useful or instructive, by finding in it a lesson for our future or a hope for history.”

May combine two claims.

The archive of slavery rests upon a founding violence that determines, regulates, and organizes the kinds of statements that can be made about slavery and creates subjects and objects of power.

“The archive of slavery rests upon a founding violence. This violence determines, regulates and organizes the kinds of statements that can be made about slavery and as well it creates subjects and objects of power.33”

• cites Foucault, Archaeology of Knowledge (New York: Pantheon, 1972), 128-29.Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The author has not discovered a way of deranging the archive so that it might recall the content of a girl's life or reveal a truer picture, nor succeeded in prying open the dead book, which sealed her status as commodity.

“Unfortunately I have not discovered a way of deranging the archive so that it might recall the content of a girl's life or reveal a truer picture, nor have I succeeded in prying open the dead book, which sealed her status as commodity.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The author's own narrative does not operate outside the economy of statements that it subjects to critique.

“my own narrative does not operate outside the economy of statements that it subjects to critique”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The author's own writing is unable to exceed the limits of the sayable dictated by the archive; it depends upon legal records, surgeons' journals, ledgers, ship manifests, and captains' logs, and falters before the archive's silence and reproduces its omissions.

“Admittedly my own writing is unable to exceed the limits of the sayable dictated by the archive. It depends upon the legal records, surgeons' journals, ledgers, ship manifests, and captains' logs, and in this regard falters before the archive's silence and reproduces it omissions.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Infelicitous speech, obscene utterances, and perilous commands give birth to the characters we stumble upon in the archive.

“Infelicitous speech, obscene utterances, and perilous commands give birth to the characters we stumble upon in the archive.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

The only certainty about Venus is that we will lose her again, that she will expire or elude our grasp or collapse under the pressure of inquiry.

“Given the condition in which we find them, the only certainty is that we will lose them again, that they will expire or elude our grasp or collapse under the pressure of inquiry. This is the only fact about Venus of which we can be sure.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

In the meantime, between too late and too early, between the no longer and the not yet, our lives are coeval with the girl's in the as-yet-incomplete project of freedom.

“But in the meantime, in the space of the interval, between too late and too early, between the no longer and the not yet, our lives are coeval with the girl's in the as-yet-incomplete project of freedom.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

It is an impossible writing which attempts to say that which resists being said (since dead girls are unable to speak).

“It is an impossible writing which attempts to say that which resists being said (since dead girls are unable to speak).”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The author chose not to tell a story about Venus because to do so would have trespassed the boundaries of the archive.

“I chose not to tell a story about Venus because to do so would have trespassed the boundaries of the archive.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

Like Dana in Octavia Butler's Kindred, we too emerge from the encounter with a sense of incompleteness and with the recognition that some part of the self is missing as a consequence of this engagement.

“Like Dana, we too emerge from the encounter with a sense of incompleteness and with the recognition that some part of the self is missing as a consequence of this engagement.”

• cites Octavia Butler, Kindred (Boston: Beacon Press, 2002).Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Knowledge that the archive is inseparable from power brings us no closer to understanding the lives of two captive girls or the violence that destroyed them.

“And this knowledge brings us no closer to an understanding of the lives of two captive girls or the violence that destroyed them and named the ruin: Venus.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

The fictions of history-the rumors, scandals, lies, invented evidence, fabricated confessions, volatile facts, impossible metaphors, chance events, and fantasies-constitute the archive and determine what can be said about the past.

“I wanted to write a romance that exceeded the fictions of history-the rumors, scandals, lies, invented evidence, fabricated confessions, volatile facts, impossible metaphors, chance events, and fantasies that constitute the archive and determine what can be said about the past.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Thomas Thistlewood's serial rapes and excremental punishments offer a graphic account of the pleasures exacted from the destruction and degradation of life and illuminate the difficulty of recovering enslaved lives from such description.

“Thomas Thistlewood's serial rapes and excremental punishments offer a graphic account of the pleasures exacted from the destruction and degradation of life and, at the same time, illuminate the difficulty of recovering enslaved lives from the annihilating force of such description”

• cites Hall, In Miserable SlaveryNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

The history of black counter-historical projects is one of failure, because these accounts have never been able to install themselves as history, but rather are insurgent, disruptive narratives that are marginalized and derailed before they ever gain a footing.

“However, the history of black counter-historical projects is one of failure, precisely because these accounts have never been able to install themselves as history, but rather are insurgent, disruptive narratives that are marginalized and derailed before they ever gain a footing.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Phibba and Dido exist only within the confines of the words in the archive, and this is the manner in which they enter history.

“the more difficult task is to exhume the lives buried under this prose, or rather to accept that Phibba and Dido exist only within the confines of these words, and that this is the manner in which they enter history.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

The economy of theft and the power over life defined the slave trade and fabricated commodities and corpses.

“The economy of theft and the power over life, which defined the slave trade, fabricated commodities and corpses.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

The dangers entailed in generating different descriptions from the archive cannot be bracketed or avoided because scenes of violence will inevitably be reproduced, and these scenes define the state of blackness and the life of the ex-slave.

“The dangers entailed in this endeavor cannot be bracketed or avoided because of the inevitability of the reproduction of such scenes of violence, which define the state of blackness and the life of the ex-slave.”