The Subterranean Performance of History between Harlem and Rome in William Demby’s The Catacombs

William Demby’s novel The Catacombs (1965) performs history through a metafictional engagement with time, historiography, and modernist artistic techniques. Set in 1960s Rome, the text disrupts linear narrative by intertwining personal and historical time, creating a 'performance of history' that critiques Western modernism while invoking themes of blackness, primitivism, and slavery. Sara Marzioli’s analysis reveals this paradoxical resistance to narrative as a form of performative critique, positioning Demby’s work between late modernism and postmodern pastiche. The study employs close textual analysis and theoretical frameworks from information theory and abstract expressionism to unpack the novel’s layered temporality and its challenge to conventional historiographic methods.

Marzioli, S. (2014). The Subterranean Performance of History between Harlem and Rome in William Demby’s The Catacombs. African American Review, 47(2-3), 417–419. https://doi.org/10.1353/afa.2014.0034