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Abstract
In Greek and Latin textbooks, verbal and visual discourses function together to construe Greco-Roman systems of enslavement. This dissertation is a critical discourse analysis of this construal based on the theories and methodologies of multicultural education and systemic functional linguistics. The findings illustrate how the linguistic resources of appraisal (feelings and character) and transitivity (agency and action) function to sanitize and normalize enslavement. The accompanying comparative analysis to 19th-century American discourses on enslavement demonstrates how the use of these linguistic resources are consistent across time and context. Therefore, although systems of enslavement in the Greco-Roman world were not race-based, the presentation of enslavement in Greek and Latin textbooks today engages in racist discourses that permeate the American education system.
The eight chapters of this dissertation examine the context, theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and implications of the research. I begin with a discussion of the current context of Classics in America including its connection to White supremacy. I then narrow the scope by examining the situational context of Greek and Latin classrooms in America. At the center of this work is the analysis of Greek and Latin textbooks using multicultural education and systemic functional linguistics theory and methodology. After discussing the findings, I explore the pedagogical implications of this research. To conclude, the final chapter reflects on the research and offers a look toward future studies on enslavement discourses in American classrooms. Throughout the course of this work, the voices of formerly enslaved Black people such as Mary Prince, Harriet A. Jacobs, and Harriet Powers are featured in order to provide counternarratives to the commonplace racist and colonialist presentation of enslavement. The goal of the research is to present students and educators with antiracist methodology for deconstructing enslavement discourses and reforming Classics pedagogy in the spirit of restorative justice.
The eight chapters of this dissertation examine the context, theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and implications of the research. I begin with a discussion of the current context of Classics in America including its connection to White supremacy. I then narrow the scope by examining the situational context of Greek and Latin classrooms in America. At the center of this work is the analysis of Greek and Latin textbooks using multicultural education and systemic functional linguistics theory and methodology. After discussing the findings, I explore the pedagogical implications of this research. To conclude, the final chapter reflects on the research and offers a look toward future studies on enslavement discourses in American classrooms. Throughout the course of this work, the voices of formerly enslaved Black people such as Mary Prince, Harriet A. Jacobs, and Harriet Powers are featured in order to provide counternarratives to the commonplace racist and colonialist presentation of enslavement. The goal of the research is to present students and educators with antiracist methodology for deconstructing enslavement discourses and reforming Classics pedagogy in the spirit of restorative justice.