Introduction : film and modernism in America : documentary and a democratic aesthetic
pt. 1. Embodying a new race for America : the question of American hope in Mississippi Masala and Lone Star. Embodying a new race for America : Mississippi Masala ; Lone Star : an archeology of American culture and the American psyche
pt. 2. Great fights for the century. Raging bull : revisioning the body, soul, and cinema ; The black gladiator and the Spartacus syndrome : race, redemption, and the ring
pt. 3. The image and the word : literature and film. "Fresh starts" : Bugsy, The great Gatsby, and the American dream ; Imaging masochism and the politics of pain : "facing" the word in the cinetext of Seize the day
pt. 4. Documentary and fiction. Documenting the body in Modern times : love, play, and repression in Chaplin's silent classic ; Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, and the rebirth of Malcolm X : cinetext for a black American dream.