Crisis And Salvation

As an influential contemporary African American playwright,August Wilson enjoys a comparable reputation with Eugene O?Neill,Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller in American theater.His masterpiece The Piano Lesson earns him the second Pulitzer Prize as well as New York Drama Critics? Circle Award.This thesis attempts to explore the theme of crisis and salvation reflected in The Piano Lesson in light of post-colonial theory,within the framework of Said?s the Other concept and Spivak?s subaltern theory,aiming at manifesting Wilson?s concerns with the survival struggles of black Americans.The body of this thesis consists of three chapters.The first chapter focuses on the identity crisis of African Americans based on Said?s concept of the Other.Through a detailed analysis of the images in The Piano Lesson,namely Sutter?s ghost,the familial piano and the Yellow Dog Train ghosts,this chapter reveals the dilemmas of black Americans as the marginalized the Other under the assimilation of the white mainstream culture and values.The second chapter analyzes the African Americans? awakening consciousness of fighting against the erosion of the mainstream culture in light of Spivak?s subaltern theory.Through a thorough analysis of the characterization in The Piano Lesson,respectively the silent subalterns,the subjugated subalterns,and the uttered subalterns,this chapter highlights the significance of the rising of racial consciousness and the utterance of their voice for the subalterns to reconstruct their identity.Blues music is the carrier of African culture,and the exorcism ritual is the mirror of the African religious tradition,which altogether symbolizes the blacks? cultural and historical legacy.Therefore,the third chapter probes into the spiritual salvation of African Americans through an elaborate analysis of the blues music and the ritual of exorcism in The Piano Lesson,aiming at illustrating Wilson?s belief that by inheriting and enhancing the African cultural and historical legacy,African Americans will finally redeem their subjectivity and realize the spiritual salvation.