Toward a New Literary History of Captivity

This essay investigates the emergent genre of English North African captivity narratives in the late sixteenth century from the point of view of historical narratology. By analyzing the narrative devices and strategies employed in some of the first accounts published in England, this essay highlights the formative role of the adventure story and the structural relevance of generic hybridity for the emerging tradition of writing about captivity. In this way, it aims to take a step toward a new comprehensive literary history of captivity that situates the birth of the genre in the context of both early modern literature and cultural history.