Front Matter -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Cultural, Collective, and Literary Trauma: Foundations for Analysis -- History, Roots and Myth: Toni Morrison’s Paradise and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day -- The Dangers of Repression/Suppression: Toni Morrison’s Beloved -- The Recovery of History: Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and David Bradley’s The Chaneysville Incident -- Epilogue: Is Closure Possible? the Use of Trauma in Art as a Vehicle for Political Struggle -- Back Matter -- Works Cited.

How do contemporary African American authors relate trauma, memory, and the recovery of the past with the processes of cultural and identity formation in African American communities? Patricia San José analyses a variety of novels by authors like Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, and David Bradley and explores these works as valuable instruments for the disclosure, giving voice, and public recognition of African American collective and historical trauma.