The Reverberating Flesh: Refiguring Blackness and Sex in Ralph Ellison's Musical Basements

Abstract

Abstract:This essay benefited from the support of many institutions and people. Adam Bradley and Cheryl Higashida were generous and incisive interlocutors throughout the process. Tom Riis, Maria Windell, David Glimp, Paul Edwards, Mary Caton Lingold, Paula Austin, Greg Laski, and attendees of the 2016 Ralph Ellison Seminar at the Library of Congress engaged with early drafts. Later versions benefited greatly from the critical engagement of Ben Beck, Kurtis Hessel, Jessica Taylor, and two anonymous readers at Arizona Quarterly. Ricky Riccardi (Louis Armstrong House Museum & Archives) provided invaluable research assistance, as did staff at the Library of Congress Manuscript Division and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The special collections research was funded by the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado Boulder. Monetary support from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance, food/housing/childcare support from Carl and Barbara Corey, and the parenting labor of Ash Bell made the final revisions possible.