The African American male's family relationships in black plays: Their evolution and meaning.
Item
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Title
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The African American male's family relationships in black plays: Their evolution and meaning.
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Identifier
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AAI9431361
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identifier
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9431361
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Creator
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Gray, A. Rudy.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Edwin Wilson
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Date
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1994
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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One way of shedding light on the mystery of the black male psyche is by analyzing the interpersonal family psychodynamics revealed in African-American dramatic writing. Through the examination of representative plays--their stories, scenes, dialogue and character interactions--we discover information that is not necessarily revealed in sociological studies or psychological analyses. This dissertation will emphasize the role of African-American dramatic art in illuminating deeper truths about black men. Because a large portion of the playwright's self-expression is, to a degree, automatic, spontaneous and organic, many even inadvertent truths emerge in the work. The psychodynamics among a play's characters, the webbing between their spoken sentences, their utterances, the phrases and the words, even among the silences, all will carry with them a whole sociohistory of the black male. They will also tell the story of the evolving outside world.;This dissertation will use the following plays to develop its point of view: Rachel (1916), about the effects of lynching on a black family; Big White Fog (1938), a black family and the Marcus Garvey Movement; Native Son (1941), an enraged young man beset by racism and poverty in Depression Chicago; Take A Giant Step (1953), a young man in the suburbs struggling to come of age; The Amen Corner (1954), a female pastor's attempts to escape into the world of religion from the "evils" of the surrounding world which impacts on the males in her life. A Raisin in the Sun (1959) introduces a new era of plays which examine frustrated men and their dreams. Blues for Mr. Charley (1964) and The Slave (1964) examine white liberalism and black rage. Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (1969) shows alternative black enterprise at work. The River Niger (1972), The First Breeze of Summer (1975) are about black men during the Nixon-Ford years and Fences (1985) shows how a middle-aged black man's frustration drives him almost to destroy his family.;These plays are by no means comprehensive. They are meant, rather, to represent the periods during which they were written.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
