미국의 다문화주의와 오거스트 윌슨의 흑인문화민족주의

Abstract

This paper attempts to define August Wilson's black cultural nationalism as the positive efforts to establish subjective relationship with American society. To do this, the influence of 'Black Arts Movement' of 1960s on August Wilson, Wilsons strategic severance from American society, and the heated controversies between August Wilson and Robert Brustein are discussed. August Wilson' s Black Cultural Nationalism was influenced a lot by Black Arts Movement' of the 1960s, especially by the plays of Amiri Baraka. Unlike Baraka' s plays, however, whose focus is on the confrontations between the whites and the blacks, Wilsons plays try to explore both the successes and failures of African American experiences including intra-racial conflicts. Wilson' s denial of being influenced by the white dramatic tradition can be considered to be a kind of strategy intended to emphasize his connection with Baraka. Finding the importance of cultural identity through his severance from white cultural tradition, Wilson tries to restore the human dignity of the African Americans impaired by almost 300 years of discrimination. To Wilson, the need to cherish and enhance the cultural values of African Americans are the prerequisites to the establishment of subjective relationship with American society. As is revealed by the controversies between Brustein and Wilson, Wilson s cultural nationalism is not propelled by a tribal need to establish pride, prestige, and role models", but based on the need to share a value system that is inc1usive of all Americans. Wilson' s ambitious plan of chronic1ing, decade by decade, twentieth century African American history can be defined as the constructive exertion to form new relationship with dominant society by exalting the racial pride of African Americans through the re-evaluation of their cultural values.