The past as present in the drama of August Wilson

An indispensable guide to the dramatic work of one of America's most important contemporary playwrights | Pulitzer-prizewinning playwright August Wilson, author of Fences , Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , and The Piano Lesson , among other dramatic works, is one of the most well respected American playwrights on the contemporary stage. The founder of the Black Horizon Theater Company, his self-defined dramatic project is to review twentieth-century African American history by creating a play for each decade. Theater scholar and critic Harry J. Elam examines Wilson's published plays within the context of contemporary African American literature and in relation to concepts of memory and history, culture and resistance, race and representation. Elam finds that each of Wilson's plays recaptures narratives lost, ignored, or avoided to create a new experience of the past that questions the historical categories of race and the meanings of blackness. Harry J. Elam, Jr. is Professor of Drama at Stanford University and author of Taking It to the Streets: The Social Protest Theater of Luis Valdez and Amiri Baraka (The University of Michigan Press). Theater Scholar And Critic Harry J. Elam, Jr., Interprets Wilson's Plays In Relation To Concepts Of Memory And History, Culture And Resistance, And Race And Representation, Arguing That Wilson Seeks To Reevaluate The Past In Order To Understand The Present. Elam Also Places Wilson's Dramatic Work In The Context Of Contemporary African American Literature, And Looks At The Function Of Music In Wilson's Plays And In African American History. The Book Also Explores The Important But Often Overlooked Ways In Which Wilson Incorporates African Mythology Into His Portrait Of Twentieth-century African American History.--jacket. (w)righting History : A Meditation In Four Beats -- The Music Is The Message -- Fools And Babes -- The Woman Question -- Men Of August -- Ogun In Pittsburgh : Resurrecting The Spirit -- The Rhetoric Of Resistance By Way Of Conclusion. Harry J. Elam, Jr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 255-263) And Index. "Theater scholar and critic Harry J. Elam, Jr., interprets Wilson's plays in relation to concepts of memory and history, culture and resistance, and race and representation, arguing that Wilson seeks to reevaluate the past in order to understand the present. Elam also places Wilson's dramatic work in the context of contemporary African American literature, and looks at the function of music in Wilson's plays and in African American history. The book also explores the important but often overlooked ways in which Wilson incorporates African mythology into his portrait of twentieth-century African American history."--BOOK JACKET Frontmatter The Overture: "To Disembark" (page ix) Introduction: (W)righting History: A Meditation in Four Beats (page 1) Chapter 1. The Music Is the Message (page 27) Chapter 2. Fools and Babes (page 57) Chapter 3. The Woman Question (page 88) Chapter 4. Men of August (page 127) Chapter 5. Ogun in Pittsburgh: Resurrecting the Spirit (page 166) Chapter 6. The Rhetoric of Resistance by Way of Conclusion (page 215) The Doing and Undoing of History: An Epilogue (page 232) Notes (page 247) Selected Bibliography (page 271) Index (page 281) Annotation. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, author of Fences, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and The Piano Lesson, among other dramatic works, is one of the most well-respected figures in American contemporary theater. Founder of the Black Horizon Theater Company, Wilson cultivated a self-defined dramatic project to review twentieth-century African American history by creating a play for each decade Examines Pulitzer-prizewinning playwright August Wilson's published plays within the context of contemporary African American literature and in relation to concepts of memory and history, culture and resistance, race and representation. This book finds that each of Wilson's plays recaptures narratives lost, ignored, or avoided