This book tests the limits of fugitivity as a concept in recent Black feminist and Afro-pessimist thought. It follows the conceptual travels of confinement and flight through three major Black writing traditions in North America from the 1840s to the early 21st century. Cultural analysis is the basic methodological approach and recent concepts of captivity and fugitivity in Afro-pessimist and Black feminist theory form the theoretical framework.

This book tests the limits of fugitivity as a concept in recent Black feminist and Afro-pessimist thought. It follows the conceptual travels of confinement and flight through three major Black writing traditions in North America from the 1840s to th

This collection contributes to and advances scholarly discussions about the African American novel as a literary form. Essays respond to the general question, what has been the impact of the African American vernacular tradition—from the spirituals, blues, gospel, and jazz to hip hop—on the structure and style of the modern African American novel?

"Pictorial history of the black American tells a story that begins with the arrival of the first slave ship at Jamestown in 1619 and is reaching its climax in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s"--Title page verso.