| Identity is ominipresent nowadays and problems of identity causevarious social cleavages and conflicts in different countries and differentperiods. Due to its vital role in modern society, identity has become a lesson ofhigh concern for people. After many years of hypothesis, debate, research anddevelopment, study on culture identity has gradually become a prominentsubject globally.The perplexity of African American identity is a unique phenomenon inAmerican literature and culture, which embodies American blacks' totalloss intheir identity in the WASP society. Such a loss is not only physiological but alsopsychological, condensed as W. E. B. Du Boisian"twoness"or"duality"anddemonstrated in many African American writings. After the Second World War,African Americans obtained more chances to understand the sharp contrastbetween democratic doctrines advocated by American government and racialdiscrimination practiced domestically. This further inspired their racialconsciousness, stimulating their participation in political reform. More andmore African American writers emerged in American literature, fiercelycriticizing social drawbacks with their acute insights, profound thoughts andscathing writings. Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Amini Baraka,Tony Morrison, August Wilson, just to name a few, are all leading figures ofAfrican American literature. Their works, with no exception, probed into thetheme of African American identity.August Wilson is one of the most prominent African Americanplaywrights of the twentieth century. He is believed as the fourth greatestplaywright after Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Hislifetime of drama writing has peeled back layers of misinformation aboutAfrican Americans by methodically probing the twentieth century decade bydecade. Wilson's"Century Cycles", from Jitney to Radio Golf, represent his effort to draw renewed attention to certain historical moments and culture inthe African American past since 1900. This achievement has not onlyilluminated the playwright's intuitive insight of African American culture, butalso empowered African Americans confronting racial segregation anddiscrimination.Identity, simply speaking, is the question about"who am l?"Unlike manyAmerican blacks who are confused about or even try to avoid this question,Wilson proudly announces that he is an African American before he is a manor playwright. At the same time, he hopes his fellow blacks would face theiridentity bravely by anchoring his oeuvre in rich and colorful African Americanculture. Every character in his drama, via their action or words, directly orindirectly shows his or her idea about the identity, which either reflects thestatus quo of African Americans or help the audience to further understandAfrican American identity in an objective way. This dissertation, mainly drawingon Henry Tajfel and James C. Turner's theory of social identity, considers fourmain factors functioning in the formation of African American identity inWilson's dramaturgy: the past experience, the South Complex, the blues andthe attitude toward God.The past experience of African Americans, in other words, is their historyof resisting and challenging their fate. Personal identity comes from one's pastexperience. What he or she has undergone or witnessed can be a constantreminder of one's 'self.' The past experience of an individual graduallyconverges and becomes shared experiences with which group identity forms.As a distinct racial group, African Americans undergo a lot during the past onehundred years, such as the Great Migration, the Depression, the Civil RightsMovement, the Black Power Movement, etc,. Wilson's plays can help his mento recall what they have experienced, and simultaneously, illustrate theuniqueness of African Americans as a racial group and further maintain theiridentity.Wilson's South Complex is another salient characteristic in his drama. It is well known that the South conveys a very subtle meaning to AfricanAmericans. Before their liberation, African Americans were enslaved, torturedand even killed in that vast area. To a certain extent, the very mention of theSouth arouses immediate unhappiness and bitterness of black people. Thepost-bellum period witnessed African Americans' migration. They yearned for anew life in the North. However, the South still follows those African Americansas their shadows. Their life styles, their way of thinking and even their namesagain and again triggered their memory of the South, reinforcing their identityalong with the past experience.As for the blues, it is no exaggeration that August Wilson has adroitlywoven this unique black music into his dramas. Not only have the complicatedfeeling, the gloomy mood, the rich information and the random improvisation ofthe blues attracted a lot of people, but the blues itself deeply influenced manyother kinds of music. Today, the blues is labeled as a mainstream music and itsmusical factors are applied in rock music and pop music. It is acknowledgedthat the blues is an encyclopedia of African Americans, and at the same time, itis the pride of those people. Trapped in a white society, African Americansneed the blues to expresses their emotions, so this music in a way becomesthe best therapy for their souls. Pursuing their own song correlates with theirpursuit of"self."African Americans' attitudes toward God reflect their religious views.Separated from the African continent, those enslaved blacks were deprived oftheir cultural treasure. Africans are a religious people, so losing their religion isequal to lose their spiritual support. Living in a totally strange society, theblacks are more or less affected by the white man's religion. Some accept itwhile many others uncompromisingly refuse it. Those adherents' ornon-adherents' attitude toward God correspond with their maintenance of theirAfricanness, which definitely consolidates their African American identity.At the end of this dissertation, August Wilson is evaluated as an eminentplaywright. As an individual, he fulfills his personal identity with his ten-play cycle. As a responsible playwright, he guides his fellow African Americans tofind their song and"self"and make all his theatre audiences and readersreassess African American identity. |
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