(a)
African-American culture as embodied in music, art, and literature flourished as never before.
Is this sentence above an example of "as ... as"?
Or is it an example of ellipsis? What words are left out to avoid repetition?
Such as
(a*)
African-American culture as (which was) embodied in music, art, and literature flourished as (this culture) never (flourished) before.
Is there any other expression to clarify the first sentence (a) without ellipsis?
How about dropping the first as like the sentence below?
(b)
African-American culture embodied in music, art, and literature flourished as never before.
(c)
African-American culture which was embodied in music, art, and literature flourished as never before.
Are all of (a*), (b) and (c) correct?
What is the difference among them in meaning, collocation and structure of grammar?
