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Blackening Europe: The African American Presence. Ed. by Heike Raphael-Hernandez. (New York: Routledge, 2004. xxii, 314 pp. Cloth, $104.95, ISBN 0-415-94398-1. Paper, $28.95, ISBN 0-415-94399-X.)
This volume has to be seen in the larger context of recent calls for an extension of transatlantic and postnational American studies projects. Moreover, it responds to African American scholars who criticize tendencies to marginalize African American culture in scholarship based primarily upon Eurocentric ideas. With its emphasis on the African American presence in Europe, it adds substantially to Paul Gilroy's concept of "the Black Atlantic" in its exploration of the development and hybridization of black cultures in Europe (The Black Atlantic, 1993). This collection provides new perspectives by looking at Europe through the lens of theories and concepts developed by African American studies. Heike Raphael-Hernandez's book reverses the traditional way of approaching black cultures via European theories. The central question this volume pursues is: "How have African American...