What is “Black” about Black Bibliography?

Abstract

i O the last fifty years, the study of African American literature has grown rapidly in scope and importance. It is now a vital field of specialization in anyUSEnglish department ofmerit. And yet scholars of African American literature still lack thorough bibliographic knowledge of many of the texts at the heart of the field. Why has bibliographic study been marginalized within the field’s development, and what has been the intellectual impact of this inattention?