Abstract

as possibly intentional, and consider how it might inflect interpretations of the rest of the novel. For example, in my view, that Delany does not give his readers a glimpse into the mechanics and the overall system of black freedom and liberation recalls the numerous slave narratives of the period. In these texts, escaped black persons oftentimes vacillate between secrecy and disclosure so as to not reveal the important persons and networks of black liberation. Delany’s insistence on replicating this structure, to some degree, shows that this imaginative text was formally conversant with the works circulating in this period. Moreover, it demonstrates the place of religious doctrine in black revolutionary politics, which McGann sees dramatized in the aforementioned acts of providential design represented in the novel. Overall, the edition opens up new ways to read this rich novel. Still, there are contradictions that will likely remain unresolved even as McGann has provided us with a more complete and corrected edition. For example, I continue to be fascinated by the contradictions in Delany’s beliefs about social and political progress. His desire for black settlement in the Niger Valley conflicts with his criticism of the expansion of American empire, both domestically and abroad. This aspect of Delany’s work continues to be underexamined in extant scholarship, though I look forward to the scholarship that this new edition will inevitably inspire. In the meantime, McGann’s edition, along with his interpretation of certain confounding aspects of the novel, is a rich source for future scholars of Delany’s imaginative writing.