Roots Rhymes and Rhizomes : An Introduction to the Concepts of the Underground -- Verbal and Spatial Masks in the Underground -- The Deep Structure of Black Identity in American Literature -- Defining an Underground at the Intersections of Hip-Hop and African American Culture -- A Cipher of the Underground in Black Literary Culture -- Tears for the Departed : See(k)ing a Black Visual Underground in Hip-Hop and African American Cultures -- The Depth of the Hole : Intertextuality and Tom Waits's "Way Down in the Hole" -- Epilogue: The Ironies Underground : Revolution, Critical Memory, and Black Nostalgia
Summary
"In the Hip Hop Underground and African American Culture, Peterson explores a variety of 'underground' concepts at the intersections of African American literature and Hip Hop Culture. From the Underground Railroad to black holes or from kiln holes to solitary confinement, this project makes meaningful connections across multiple iterations of Black concepts of the underground. Since socially conscious Hip Hop music inherits much of its socio-political and figurative significance from the Black underground it functions as a logical recurring subject matter for this study--situated at Black cultural and conceptual crossroads"-- Provided by publisher
