“Reconnecting the Migrant Selves: The plays of August Wilson”

Abstract

The proposed paper entitled “Reconnecting the Migrant Selves: The Plays of August Wilson’’ examines the study of the prominent play of August Wilson, the contemporary African American playwright. It is an attempt at locating the self in the context of racial exploitation of the collision and collusion of African, American and European cultural values. It is based on the hypothesis that the agenda of African American writing is the disruption of the black self that has been dismembered by forced displacement, brutal enslavement and restless migration before and after emancipation. Under the disorienting effects of the brutal system of slavery and racial discrimination over the ages, the socio-cultural life of black Americans underwent fragmentation. Their families, communities and cultures broke apart and remained separated over the ages through many generations across the continent. This severe physical dislocation at multiple levels led to psychic disintegration and mental imbalance. In the face of disintegration, there have been consistent attempts on their parts for reconnection, both at social and psychological levels during and after slavery. There have been attempts at searching out the lost and separated members of the family and community, reconnecting the cultural roots they have been alienated from, uniting the fragmented parts of culture and maintaining psychological balance and stability.