Historical Context
African-American Literary Movements
Twentieth-century African-American literature has been characterized by two
important literary movements: The Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts
Movement. The Harlem Renaissance, also referred to as the New Negro Movement,
designates a period during the 1920s in which African-American literature
flourished among a group of writers concentrated in Harlem, New York. Important
writers and works of the Harlem Renaissance include James Weldon Johnson, who
wrote the novel Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912); Claude McKay,
who wrote the bestselling novel Home to Harlem (1928); Langston Hughes,
who wrote the poetry collection The Weary Blues (1926); and Wallace
Thurman, who wrote the novel The Blacker the Berry (1929). This period
of incredible literary output diminished when the Great Depression of the 1930s
affected the financial status of many African-American writers. The Black Arts
Movement, also referred to as the Black Aesthetic Movement, which flourished
during the 1960s and 70s, embodied values derived from black nationalism,
promoting politically and socially significant works, often written in black
English vernacular. Important writers of the Black Arts Movement, in addition
to Baraka, include Eldridge Cleaver, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and Toni
Morrison.
African-American Theater
Baraka's play is an important work in the history of African-American dramatic
literary production. Dramatic works by African-American writers in the
nineteenth century include King Shotaway (1823), by William Henry Brown, the
first known play by an African-American writer; The Escape: or, A Leap for
Freedom (1858), by William Wells Brown, the first play by an
African-American writer to be published; and Rachel (1916), by Anglina
W. Grimke, the first successful stage play by an African-American writer.
Dramatic works and stage productions by African Americans in the twentieth
century were influenced by important literary movements, such as the Harlem
Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. The development of Black Theater in
the first half of the twentieth century was inspired by the Harlem Renaissance,
and included the establishment of theaters devoted to black productions in
major cities throughout the United States. The most prominent black theaters by
mid-century were the American Negro Theater and the Negro Playwrights' Company.
In the post-World War II era, black theater became more overtly political and
more specifically focused on celebrating African-American culture. One of the
most prominent works to emerge from this period was the 1959 play, A Raisin
in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. The Black Arts Movement, which emerged
in the 1960s, led to the establishment in 1965 of the Black Repertory Theater
in Harlem, initiated by Baraka. Baraka's award-winning 1964 play
Dutchman is among the most celebrated dramatic works of this period.
Ntozake Shange's 1977 for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the
rainbow is enuf used an experimental dramatic format to address issues facing
African-American women. In the 1980s, August Wilson emerged as one of the most
important African-American playwrights, with his play Ma Rainey 's Black
Bottom (1985), set in Chicago in the 1920s, about a blues singer and her
band.
The Beat Movement
During the 1950s, Baraka became associated with the literary and cultural
aesthetics of the Beat Movement. Writers of the Beat Movement were concentrated
in San Francisco and Greenwich Village, New York City, and included, most
prominently, Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), best known for his poem Howl
(1956), and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), best known for his novel On the
Road (1957). Beat Movement aesthetics were apolitical, but were associated
with such cultural practices as jazz music, drugs, sexual experimentation, and
Zen Buddhism. Beat poets advocated a free-flowing, loosely structured use of
language, sometimes borrowing from the rhythms of jazz music. Other important
writers to emerge from the Beat Movement include William Burroughs and Gary
Snyder.
Literary Style
Audience Participation and...
(This entire section contains 559 words.)
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Ritual
One of the innovative elements of Baraka's play is the encouragement of
audience participation. During the final sequence, actors step down from the
stage and invite audience members to participate in a celebratory dance. Floyd
Gaffney describes the overall effect of this final sequence and it thematic
implications: "The final moments of the drama bring members of the cast
together in a communion of singing 'When We Gonna Rise' and dancing 'a new-old
dance, Boogalooyoruba line.' The celebration moves beyond the footlights into
the theater, involving black spectators in this gesture of unified
consciousness. The severed head of the preacher is thrown onto the dance floor,
abruptly reminding audience members that the struggle continues in the
community, the nation, and, ultimately, in the world. Critics have observed the
ritualistic element of the play, as it culminates in this final dance involving
the audience. As Tejumola Olaniyan notes,"It is not a 'play' as such but, more
appropriately, a presentational, gigantic ritual, a pageant.’’ Harry J. Elam
Jr. praises the theatrical production of Slave Ship as an "effective
strategy'' of what he calls ‘‘ritualistic protest theater.’’
Sounds and Smells
Nilgun Anadolu-Okur describes the colorful use of sound, as well as the unusual
use of actual smells, to dramatize central themes of the play: ‘‘To reenact the
horrors of enslavement, drums, rattles, tambourines, ship bells and horns, gun
shots and whip cracks, the sound of the waves, the smell of the open sea,
incense, urine, and excrement are utilized, adding more weight to the realistic
imagery.’’ Gaffney describes the significance of sound to thematic concerns
throughout the play, explaining that"The ritual of sound provides cohesion
through which the slaves appeal to and abandon their African deities. Humming
and singing of spirituals occur as the pageant shifts to slavery in America.
... The contemporary phase of the ritual juxtaposes the voice of the
integrationist preacher against that of the nationalist fighter, which is
metaphorically extended into the 'new voice of freedom' heard through the
wailing of a saxophone.’’ Kim-berly W. Benston observes that,"The experience of
the play... is less one of watching than of listening.''
Plot
Benston discusses the absence of a traditional plot line from Baraka's play as
an aesthetic choice intended to more powerfully express his central thematic
concerns. Benston notes that, "Slave Ship has no definite plot,’’ and
that ‘‘There is very little use of discursive speech and almost no dialogue,’’
but that"Every theatrical device is directed toward creating an 'atmosphere of
feeling,' one appropriate to a slave ship, the attendant horrors of the Middle
Passage, and the grim consequences that comprise the history of the
Afro-American experience.'' Thus, Benston explains that ‘‘With the abandonment
of traditional plot, Baraka moves us along these historical and mystical paths
by a series of tableaux and symbolic actions.’’
Set Design
Harry J. Elam Jr. discusses the significance of the set design of one
particular production of Slave Ship to its central thematic concerns.
Elam notes that Gilbert Moses, the set designer, "attempted to transform the
performance space into a slave ship— a critical, historical site of black
degradation and collective social memory.'' Elam goes on to say that "As a
historical site of unconscionable racial violence, the slave ship potently
communicated to its spectators an African-American heritage of struggle and
survival.’’
Compare and Contrast
1920s: The Harlem Renaissance is the celebrated African-American literary movement that inspires many great African-American writers to an unprecedented literary output.
1950s: The Beat Movement in poetry is primarily made up of white writers, but is influenced by the African-American musical tradition of jazz, and is influential to such celebrated African-American writers such as Amiri Baraka.
1960s: The Black Arts Movement, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Nationalism, promotes an artistic aesthetic based in African-American culture.
1823: King Shotaway, by James Brown, is the first known play written by an African American.
1858: The Escape: Or, a Leap for Freedom, by William Wells Brown, is the first published play by an African-American writer.
1916: Rachel, by Angelina W. Grimke, is the first successful stage play by an African-American writer.
1959: A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is the most prominent and widely celebrated play by an African-American writer.
1965: The Black Repertory Theatre, established by Amiri Baraka for the production of African-American dramatic works, initiates the Black Arts Movement in drama.
1977: For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf, by Ntozake Shange, is a successful, experimental play, inspired by the Black Arts Movement, and written by a black feminist writer.
1985: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, by August Wilson, is the most celebrated play by an African-American writer.
1518-1845: The Middle Passage refers to the route across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to the Americas—a journey that takes from three weeks to three months and that brings millions of enslaved Africans to be sold into bondage. There are a recorded fifty-five mutinies among the slaves against the slave traders during the Middle Passage.
1861-1865: The American Civil War results in the complete abolition of slavery in the United States.
1964: An extensive Civil Rights Act is passed by Congress, declaring various forms of racial discrimination illegal.
Bibliography and Further Reading
SOURCES
Anadolu-Okur, Nilgun, Contemporary African-American Theater, Garland,
1997, pp. 94, 97-9.
Benston, Kimberly W., ed., "Introduction" to Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones): A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall, 1978, pp. 1, 14.
----, "Vision and Form in Slave Ship,'' in Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones): A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Kimberly W. Benston, Prentice-Hall, 1978, pp. 174-176, 178-81.
Elam, Harry J., Jr., Taking It to the Streets: The Social Protest Theater of Luis Valdez and Amiri Baraka, University of Michigan Press, 1997, pp. 74, 77, 86-88, 93–4.
Floyd, Gaffney, ‘‘Amiri Baraka,’’ in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 38, edited by Thadius M. Davis, Gale, 1985, pp. 6, 18.
Harris, William J., ed., in collaboration with Amiri Baraka, The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader, Thunder's Mouth Press, 1991, p. xvii.
Olaniyan, Tejumola, Scars of Conquest/Masks of Resistance, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 82-84.
FURTHER READING
Anadolu-Okur, Nilgun, Contemporary African-American Theater: Afrocentricity
in the Works of Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka, and Charles Fuller, Garland
Publishing, 1997.
This text is an analysis of the impact of three important African-American
playwrights in the historical context of Black Theater movements.
Baraka, Amiri, ed., Confirmation: An Anthology of African-American
Women, Morrow, 1983.
This book is seen as a collection of important writings by African-American
women.
----, Eulogies, Marsilio Publishers, 1996.
This work is a collection of eulogies given by Baraka for the funerals of many
famous African-American writers, musicians, and intellectuals, including
Malcolm X, John Coltrane, James Baldwin, Miles Davis, and Toni Cade
Bambara.
Baraka, Amiri, and Larry Neal, eds., Black Fire: An Anthology of
Afro-American Writing, Morrow, 1968.
Baraka is a contributor as well as editor of this landmark anthology in
African-American literary history.
Elam, Harry J., Jr., Taking It to the Streets: The Social Protest Theater
of Luis Valdez and Amiri Baraka, University of Michigan Press, 1997.
Elam's book provides an interesting comparative analysis of the political
impact of dramatic productions by Amiri Baraka and Luis Valdez.
Olaniyan, Tejumola, Scars of Conquest/Masks of Resistance: The Invention
of Cultural Identities in African, African-American, and Caribbean Drama,
Oxford University Press, 1995.
Olaniyan's book is a discussion of dramatic performances as political acts of
forging ‘‘cultural identity’’ through artistic production.
Reilly, Charlie, ed., Conversations with Amiri Baraka, University of
Mississippi Press, 1994.
This work is a collection of previously published interviews with Baraka by
various writers.