Abstract
Bu makalenin amacı, August Wilson'ın The Piano Lesson adlı eserinde yer alan siyahilerin melankolik kimliğini geçmişin nasıl belirlediğini ve travmatik olsa da piyanonun varlığının yitirilenlerin kalıntıları olarak nasıl temsil ettiğini araştırmaktır. Kalıntılar, siyahiler için tarihlerini yorumlamalarına yardımcı olan bir anıt işlevi görür. The Piano Lesson adlı eserde yitirdiklerimizin kalıntıları ya da yitirdiklerimizi anımsatanlar, geçmiş travmaların ve çözülmemiş acıların dokunaklı sembolleri olarak tasvir edilir. Bu kalıntılar sadece tarihin ağırlığını çağrıştırmakla kalmaz, aynı zamanda karakterlerin duygusal mücadelelerine ve kayıplarıyla uzlaşma çabaları hakkında okuyucuyu bilgilendirir. Geçmişi ve onun şimdiki zaman üzerindeki etkisini tanımlamak için travma, melankoli ve kayıp gibi bazı kavramlara atıfta bulunmak kaçınılmazdır. Ancak burada sunulan tanımlar, bu perspektiflere verilen klasik açıklamalardan farklıdır. August Wilson'ın The Piano Lesson adlı eseri, siyah ırkın yaşadığı kayıp ve travmaların birikimini temsil eder ve bu kayıp ve travmaların kalıntıları üzerinden şimdiki nesil siyahiler kendilerini geçmişe bağlar ve bu da onlara beyaz sahiplere karşı durmak için yeni travma yorumlamaları üretme konusunda melankolik bir ayrıcalık sağlar. Dahası, oyundaki piyano, üzerinde tarihi bilgiler bulunan ve siyah ırkın köleliğe karşı özgürlük ve bağımsızlık mücadelesini başlatacağı bir anıt olarak işlev görmektedir.
Keywords
References
- Ahmed, Sara. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
- Bissiri, Amandou. "Aspects of Africanness in August Wilson's Drama: Reading The Piano Lesson Through Wole Soyinka's Drama," African American Review 30.1, (1996): 99-113.
- Bogumil, Mary L. Understanding August Wilson. South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1999.
- Elam, Harry. J. The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2007.
- Eng, David L. and David Kazanjian. "Introduction: Mourning Remains" in Loss The Politics of Mourning. Editors: David L. Eng and David Kazanjian, 1-28. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- Eng, David. "Melancholia in the Late Twentieth Century," Chicago Journals 25.4, (2000): 1275-1281. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3175527
- Eng, David L. and Shinhee Han. Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation. London: Duke University Press, 2019.
- Sigmund Freud. “Mourning and Melancholia” in The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Editors: James Strachey et al. London: Hogarth, 1957.
- Freedman, Samuel G. "Fine Tuning: The Piano Lesson," Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson. New York Times Magazine, 10 Sept. 1989, 19-40. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3042097
- Gantt, Patricia. "Ghosts from Down There" in August Wilson: A Case Book. Editors: Marilyn Elkins, 69-88. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 2000.
- Goldman, Jeffrey. "Of History as One Long Blues Tune: August Wilson," Dramatics (April 1990): 12-16, 39-40. https://doi.org/10.2307/3042097
- Harrington, Joan. "I Ain't Sorry for Nothin' I Done" in August Wilson Process of Play Writing, 23- 56. New York: Limelight Editions, 1998.
- Klein, Alvin." Fences: A Haunting Depiction of Family Turmoil," New York Times (July 1991): 1-19.
- Londre, Felicia Hardson. "A Piano and its History: Family and Transcending family" in The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson. Editor: Christopher Bigsby, 96-120. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2007. Love, Heather. Feeling Backward Loss and the Politics of Queer History. London: Cambridge University, 2007.
- Luciano, Dana. “Passing Shadows: Melancholic Nationality and Black Critical Publicity in Pauline E. Hopkins’s of One Blood” in Loss the Politics of Mourning. Editors: David L. Eng and David Kazanjian, 125-168. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- Monaco, Pamela Jean. "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" in August Wilson: A Case Book. Editor: Marilyn Elkins, 89-104. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 2000.
- Rich, Frank. "Panoramic History of Blacks in America in Wilson's Piano Lesson". Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson, New York Times (April 1990): 1-17.
- ----------. "A Family Confronts Its History in August Wilson's Piano Lesson," New York Times (April 1990): 1-126.
- Scarry, Elaine. Elizabeth Irene Smith “The Body in Pain: An Interview with Elaine Scarry,” By Elizabeth Irene Smith, Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 32.2, (September 2006): 223-37. http://www.concentric-literature.url.tw/issues/Who%20Speaks%20for%20the%20Human%20Today/10.pdf
- ----------. Body in Pain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
- Shannon, Sandra G. The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson. Washington: Harvard University Press, 1995.
- Usekes, Cigdem. "We's the Leftovers": Whiteness as Economic Power and Exploitation in August Wilson's Twentieth-Century Cycle of Plays," Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson, African America Review (May 2003): 115-125.
- Wang, Qun. An In-depth Study of the Major Plays of African American Playwright August Wilson. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
- Wilson, August. The piano lesson. New York: Dutton, 1990.
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to investigate the way the past determines the melancholic identity of the black people involved in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and the way the piano’s presence, though traumatic, stands as remains of the loss. The remains act like a monument for black people through which they can read and re-read their history. In The Piano Lesson the remnants or remains of loss are depicted, serving as poignant symbols of past traumas and unresolved grief. These remnants not only evoke the weight of history but also provide insights into the characters' emotional struggles and their attempts to reconcile with their losses. In order to define the past and its influence in the present referring to some notions like trauma, melancholia, and loss is unavoidable. However, the definitions provided here deviate from the classical explanations given to these perspectives. August Wilson's The Piano Lesson represents the accumulation of the losses and traumas experienced by the black race through whose remains the present generation of black people attaches themselves to the past, which gives them a melancholic privilege to produce new reading of traumas to stand against the white owners. Moreover, the piano in the play acts as a traumatic monument in which the history of the past has been carved, and through which the fight against slavery starts which could lead to freedom and independence for the black race against slavery.
Keywords
References
- Ahmed, Sara. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
- Bissiri, Amandou. "Aspects of Africanness in August Wilson's Drama: Reading The Piano Lesson Through Wole Soyinka's Drama," African American Review 30.1, (1996): 99-113.
- Bogumil, Mary L. Understanding August Wilson. South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1999.
- Elam, Harry. J. The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2007.
- Eng, David L. and David Kazanjian. "Introduction: Mourning Remains" in Loss The Politics of Mourning. Editors: David L. Eng and David Kazanjian, 1-28. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- Eng, David. "Melancholia in the Late Twentieth Century," Chicago Journals 25.4, (2000): 1275-1281. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3175527
- Eng, David L. and Shinhee Han. Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation. London: Duke University Press, 2019.
- Sigmund Freud. “Mourning and Melancholia” in The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Editors: James Strachey et al. London: Hogarth, 1957.
- Freedman, Samuel G. "Fine Tuning: The Piano Lesson," Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson. New York Times Magazine, 10 Sept. 1989, 19-40. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3042097
- Gantt, Patricia. "Ghosts from Down There" in August Wilson: A Case Book. Editors: Marilyn Elkins, 69-88. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 2000.
- Goldman, Jeffrey. "Of History as One Long Blues Tune: August Wilson," Dramatics (April 1990): 12-16, 39-40. https://doi.org/10.2307/3042097
- Harrington, Joan. "I Ain't Sorry for Nothin' I Done" in August Wilson Process of Play Writing, 23- 56. New York: Limelight Editions, 1998.
- Klein, Alvin." Fences: A Haunting Depiction of Family Turmoil," New York Times (July 1991): 1-19.
- Londre, Felicia Hardson. "A Piano and its History: Family and Transcending family" in The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson. Editor: Christopher Bigsby, 96-120. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2007. Love, Heather. Feeling Backward Loss and the Politics of Queer History. London: Cambridge University, 2007.
- Luciano, Dana. “Passing Shadows: Melancholic Nationality and Black Critical Publicity in Pauline E. Hopkins’s of One Blood” in Loss the Politics of Mourning. Editors: David L. Eng and David Kazanjian, 125-168. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- Monaco, Pamela Jean. "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" in August Wilson: A Case Book. Editor: Marilyn Elkins, 89-104. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 2000.
- Rich, Frank. "Panoramic History of Blacks in America in Wilson's Piano Lesson". Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson, New York Times (April 1990): 1-17.
- ----------. "A Family Confronts Its History in August Wilson's Piano Lesson," New York Times (April 1990): 1-126.
- Scarry, Elaine. Elizabeth Irene Smith “The Body in Pain: An Interview with Elaine Scarry,” By Elizabeth Irene Smith, Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 32.2, (September 2006): 223-37. http://www.concentric-literature.url.tw/issues/Who%20Speaks%20for%20the%20Human%20Today/10.pdf
- ----------. Body in Pain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
- Shannon, Sandra G. The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson. Washington: Harvard University Press, 1995.
- Usekes, Cigdem. "We's the Leftovers": Whiteness as Economic Power and Exploitation in August Wilson's Twentieth-Century Cycle of Plays," Rev of Piano Lesson by August Wilson, African America Review (May 2003): 115-125.
- Wang, Qun. An In-depth Study of the Major Plays of African American Playwright August Wilson. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
- Wilson, August. The piano lesson. New York: Dutton, 1990.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Early Pub Date | December 26, 2023 |
| Publication Date | December 29, 2023 |
| Submission Date | April 12, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Issue: 16 |
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