Magical Realism In August Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle"

August Wilson(1945-2005)is generally recognized as the most powerful and successful African American playwright.He spent more than twenty years assiduously and conscientiously writing the "Pittsburgh Cycle" which incorporates every ten-year American history in the twentieth century into ten plays.It is set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and presented it on stage in an epical and grand form.Wilson‘s artistic achievements have gained critics‘ attention widely since the 1980 s.Wilsonian study mainly focuses on his biography and writing process,various themes,characters,African American culture and language features.Since August Wilson creates many miracles,illusions,dreams and even the images of ghost in his plays to weave magical plots,this thesis,on the basis of the former research,tries to make a study of the magical realism in the "Pittsburgh Cycle".It is to be proved that Wilson sufficiently applies magical realism into his works,which plays a very important role in the expression of his themes.Out of the Pittsburgh Cycle,this thesis chooses to examine three representative plays— Gem of the Ocean,Joe Turner's Come and Gone and The Piano Lesson,aiming to discuss the application of magical realism and its function in the theme expression.By analyzing the three main artistic methods,that is,amalgam of magical elements and realistic elements,the employment of mythological archetypes and the utilization of modern narrative methods,this study not only explores how Wilson creatively employs the magical realism elements,but also discusses how he uses them to enhance his theme expression so as to reveal the existential condition of African Americans in the twentieth century.This thesis consists of three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction introduces the profile of August Wilson and his "Pittsburgh Cycle",the critical review of August Wilson‘s "Pittsburgh Cycle",the artistic features of magical realism and the main argument and organization of the thesis.Chapter One analyzes the amalgam of magical elements and realistic elements in Gem of the Ocean to reveal African Americans‘ struggle for freedom and against the racial oppression at the beginning of the twentieth century.Therefore,this chapter presents the mysterious characters and the absurd plots as well as the social reality in Gem of the Ocean.Chapter Two discusses the employment of mythological archetypes in Joe Turner's Come and Gone to express the theme of African Americans‘ research for their cultural identity and location in the teens.Thus,this chapter sufficiently digs out the biblical archetypes and African mythic archetypes in the play.While creating the magical scenes,Wilson presents the current situation of the black people.Chapter Three focuses on the utilization of unique narrative methods of magical realism in The Piano Lesson to manifest African Americans‘ dilemma of embracing their past as slaves in the thirties.Thereby,this chapter makes an analysis of the dreamlike plots with the help of the structure of collages,symbolism and the displacement of the time and the space in the play.With the above discussion,this thesis draws the conclusion that magical realism plays a very important role in Wilson‘s works and provides an artistic tool for August Wilson to express African Americans‘ voices and demonstrate their culture and history and highlights the consistent theme of Wilson‘s "Pittsburgh Cycle"— the search of the African Americans for their own culture and identity.