An Analysis Of Yoruba Tragic Spirit In Joe Turner's Come And Gone

August Wilson is a well-acclaimed contemporary African American playwright.With the publication and performance of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom(1985),Fences(1987),The Piano Lesson(1990)and several other plays,Wilson has been successful in American theater and these plays have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes,one Tony Award,and several New York Drama Critics'Circle Awards.Wilson has divided the change of African American life in 20~thh century into ten phases set in each decade.He has completed ten historical plays,among which Joe Turner's Come and Gone(1988)is the signature play claimed by Wilson.The play is set at the beginning of 20~thh century when slaves in southern America got liberation and migrated to northern cities.It focuses on how to regain their physical and spiritual completeness.As a playwright who firmly stands on traditional black culture,Wilson integrates African myth and traditional art forms such as blues to establish their self identity and racial identity from the perspective of cosmic totality.This thesis,therefore,intends to analyse the protagonist Loomis'Yoruba tragic spirit by using Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka's Yoruba myth and Yoruba tragedy based on the god Ogun.Yoruba tragedy lies in the paradox between one's pursuit of cosmic totality and individual uniqueness.In order to regain his totality of being,Loomis has to experience the suffering of self-disintegration,accept the pain and individual incompleteness and recover himself from fragmentation with African spirit.This thesis is made up of six parts.The introduction contains four parts.The first part introduces Wilson's life experience and his works.The second part is literature review which includes international studies and domestic studies.The third part is a summary on the archetypes of Yoruba tragedy and different phases of ritual tragedy.The fourth part is the significance of the research.The first chapter analyzes Loomis'pursuit of cosmic totality in transitional abyss.This is an imitation of the god Ogun's ritual transition.Loomis'departure from his psycho,the black community and the ancestor have caused his fragmentation.He plunges into the transitional abyss in order to pursue the cosmic totality.Juba dancing links with African spirit and triggers Loomis'transition.In the dark transitional abyss which symbolizes the unconscious force of the cosmos,Loomis sees the illusions of rebirth and disconnection of the race.He uses his combative will to overcome self-disintegration and combines the destructive force and creative force in the abyss.This symbolizes the integration of the past and the present and the interfusion of the matter and consciousness.The second chapter focuses on Loomis're-assemblage of individuation through the god Obatala.Guided by Bynum with Obatala's wisdom,Loomis transforms his personal pain into universal sufferance.Through story-telling,Loomis realizes that his inner strength could not be taken away by anyone.Loomis releases his pain and resolves with the inevitable incompleteness.The third chapter illustrates Loomis'rejuvenation of spirit.Loomis refuses to get reunion with his wife.He abandons the worship of God and becomes of his own agency.He uses his own blood to cleanse himself.This signifies Loomis'physical and spiritual independence.The fourth chapter is an analysis of Wilson's aesthetic principle of spirituality.As a New Age Post-Revolutionary philosopher,Wilson shifts his attention from the binary polar concerns between the white and the black and pursues a new age cosmic self.The last part is conclusion.Loomis'tragic spirit manifests in his combative will during dark transitional abyss,his endurance towards suffering,and his self-defence of his own worth.These are the wisdom that Wilson shares with his readers when he firmly stands on the ground of traditional black cultural values.