Acknowledgments ix // Introduction 1 // Figurations for a New American Literary History: Archaeology, Ideology, and Afro-American Discourse 15 // Discovering America: Generational Shifts, Afro-American Literary Criticism, and the Study of Expressive Culture 64 // A Dream of American Form: Fictive Discourse, Black (W)holes, and a Blues Book Most Excellent 113 // Conclusion 200 // Notes 205 // Index 221