BROADCASTS.com

When \u2018Roots: The Saga of an American Family\u2019 made novelist Alex Haley an international sensation, he revisited Juffure, Gambia - the village where he claimed his 18th-century ancestor Kunta Kinte had been captured into slavery. On 16th April, 1977, he was welcomed \u2018home\u2019 as a hero by the villagers.\nBut his hit novel had begun to attract criticism for blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction - a genre Haley came to refer to as \u2018faction\u2019 - relying primarily on oral sources that were hard to verify. And the following year, novelist Harold Courlander successfully sued Haley for having plagiarised passages from his 1967 novel, \u2018The African\u2019.\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Haley Visit Captivates Village Where \u2018Roots\u2019 Began\u2019 (The New York Times, 1977): https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/18/archives/haley-visit-captivates-village-where-roots-began.html\n\u2022 \u2018Is Roots a true and authentic story? Why Alex Haley's book about slavery and family history is so controversial\u2019 (Radio Times, 2017): https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/is-roots-a-true-story-why-this-tale-of-slavery-and-family-history-is-so-controversial/\n\u2022 \u2018Roots author Alex Haley on the horror of slavery\u2019 (CBC, 1977): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6WRRwqql4\nThis episode first premiered in 2023, for members of \U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\U0001f334 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!\n\xa0\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors\n\xa0\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.\n\n\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices