Native sons, native daughters: Representations of the African American spirit in August Wilson's 'Jitney'

Chapter One, "Search for Identity" is an introduction to the investigation of images and form used by August Wilson in his creation of the play, Jitney. Chapter Two, "Shameful Positioning" is an investigation of the development and maintenance of the negative stereotypes of American Blacks that appear in popular culture. These are the images, created by the dominant White culture of the United States, that caused W. E. B. Du Bois to coin the phrase, "double -- consciousness."Chapter Three, "Reactionary Positioning" is a discussion of this double -- consciousness and the idea of stereotype as Richard Wright addresses it in his 1941 novel Native Son, and in the play and movie that were based on it. Form and content conspired with circumstance and created multiple possibilities for interpretation.Chapter Four, "Lorraine Hansberry: Invigorating or Erasing the Myth?" is a discussion of the affect of form and content on Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 production of Raisin in the Sun. She too struggled with the effects of invoking stereotype, putting ideas on a stage and dealing with multiple interpretations of her play. Raisin in the Sun and Native Son (temporarily at least) slid out of the public focus as Civil Rights began to become a reality for some poor and the marginalized Americans.Chapter Five, "Inclusion, Exclusion, and Reimagined Stereotypes in August Wilson's Jitney" is a close inspection of August Wilson's Jitney. It reveals an approach to theatre that accomplishes what its fore runners could not. Wilson's play creates an unquestionably African American experience within an African American context. The structure of Wilson's play is a presentation of something not seen in American theatre before this playwright. Wilson combines theatre, poetic form and story telling with blues rhythms and subject matters.He creates a theatrical experience that is more like listening to a piece of music than it is like watching the action of a traditional play unfold. Wilson places his realistically drawn, poetically presented characters within the context of the African American experience. At last, form follows content. August Wilson became a great playwright, poet and debater, but also, for many, the Griot of our age.