| Description |
1 online resource |
| Contents |
Introduction : Civil disobedience as resistance to tradition and performance -- Classical origins of character and Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a negro, Electra, and Orestes -- The Oedipus story and the perfect play, or The gospel according to Rita Dove : The darker face of the earth and Sonata Mulattica : a life in five movements and a short play -- Racial intent and dramatic form : Eugene O'Neill's All God's chillun got wings and The Emperor Jones -- Aristotle's "Spectacle" and August Wilson's "Spectacle character" : Joe Turner's Come and gone -- Freedom songs and metaphors of healing : Eugene O'Neill's Mourning becomes Electra, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the sun, and Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus and Topdog/Underdog -- Civil disobedience, truth and reconciliation, and the cosmopolitan citizen : Charles Smith's The gospel according to James, Thomas Bradshaw's Mary, David Mamet's Race, and Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park |
| Summary |
Civil disobedience has a tattered history in the American story. Described by Martin Luther King Jr. as both moral reflection and political act, the performance of civil disobedience in the face of unjust laws is also, the author of this book argues, a deeply artistic practice. Modern parallels to King's civil disobedience can be found in Black theater, where the Black body challenges the normative assumptions of classical texts and modes of creation. This is a theater of civil disobedience. Utilizing Aristotle's Poetics, the author invokes the six aspects of Aristotelian drama - character, story, thought, spectacle, song, and diction. The author demonstrates the re-appropriation and rejection of these themes by Black playwrights August Wilson, Adrienne Kennedy, and Eugene O'Neill. This book frames the theater of civil disobedience to challenge the hostility that still exists between theater and Black identity |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Aristotle -- Influence
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| SUBJECT |
Aristotle fast |
| Subject |
American drama -- African American authors -- History and criticism
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African American aesthetics.
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American drama -- Classical influences
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Civil disobedience in literature.
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Classicism in literature.
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Comparative literature -- Modern and classical.
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African American theater -- History
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DRAMA -- American.
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African American aesthetics
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African American theater
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American drama -- African American authors
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Civil disobedience in literature
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Classicism in literature
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Comparative literature -- Modern and classical
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Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
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| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781602584549 |
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1602584540 |
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1299718043 |
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9781299718043 |
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