African American Dramatists

African American Dramatists PDF Author: Emmanuel S. Nelson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313052891
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
Despite their significant contributions to the American theater, African American dramatists have received less critical attention than novelists and poets. This reference offers thorough critical assessments of the lives and works of African American playwrights from the 19th century to the present. The book alphabetically arranges entries on more than 60 dramatists, including James Baldwin, Arna Bontemps, Ossie Davis, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a summary of the playwright's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. The volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. African American dramatists have made enormous contributions to the theater and their works are included in numerous editions and anthologies. Some of the most popular plays of the 20th century have been written by African Americans, and high school students and undergraduates study their works. But for all their popularity and influence, African American playwrights have received less critical attention than poets and novelists. This reference offers thorough critical assessments of more than 60 African American dramatists from the 19th century to the present.

Black Female Playwrights

Black Female Playwrights PDF Author: Kathy A. Perkins
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253113660
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
"Fine reading and a superb resource." -- Ms. "Highly recommended." -- Library Journal "Perkins has chosen the plays well, and her issue-oriented introduction places the women and their works in a literary and historical context." -- Choice "As well as being centered on the black experience, the plays in Black Female Playwrights are centered on the female experience." -- Voice Literary Supplement "Perkins' anthology is valuable for a number of reasons... Perkins' book (which includes a bibliography of plays and pageants by black women before 1950 as well as a selected bibliography of critical works) is a major help in providing access to [the world of black drama]." -- Theatre Journal The need to acknowledge these works was the impetus behind this volume. Perkins has selected nineteen plays from seven writers who were among the major dramatizers of the black experience during this early period. As forerunners to the activist black theater of the 1950s and 1960s, these plays represent a critical stage in the development of black drama in the United States.

Contemporary African American Female Playwrights

Contemporary African American Female Playwrights PDF Author: Dana A. Williams
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313064954
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was a major dramatic success and brought to the world's attention the potential talent of African American women playwrights. But in spite of Hansberry's landmark contribution, both the theater and the literary world have often failed to include contemporary African American female playwrights within the circle of production, publication, and criticism. In African American drama anthologies, female playwrights are seldom given the degree of attention that is accorded their male counterparts. And because of space constraints, anthologies of works by women playwrights are forced to exclude numerous female dramatists, including African Americans. Meanwhile, some scholars have argued that the works of African American female playwrights are seldom produced in the mainstream theater because these plays frequently challenge the views of white America. But as A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates, plays by African American women dramatists can have a powerful message and are worthy of attention. A comprehensive research tool, this annotated bibliography sheds light on the often neglected works of contemporary African American female playwrights. Included within its scope are those dramatists who have had at least one work published since 1959, the year of Hansberry's monumental achievement. The first section provides a listing of anthologies that include one or more plays written by an African American female dramatist. The second gives entries for reference works and for scholarly and critical studies of the dramatists and their plays. The third presents a listing of published plays by individual dramatists, along with a summary of each drama; the works of each playwright that are related to drama; and secondary sources that treat the dramatists and their plays. Entries are accompanied by concise but informative annotations, and the volume closes with a list of periodicals that frequently publish criticism of African American female playwrights, a section of brief biographical sketches of the dramatists, and extensive indexes.

African American Dramatists

African American Dramatists PDF Author: Emmanuel S. Nelson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313052891
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
Despite their significant contributions to the American theater, African American dramatists have received less critical attention than novelists and poets. This reference offers thorough critical assessments of the lives and works of African American playwrights from the 19th century to the present. The book alphabetically arranges entries on more than 60 dramatists, including James Baldwin, Arna Bontemps, Ossie Davis, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a summary of the playwright's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. The volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. African American dramatists have made enormous contributions to the theater and their works are included in numerous editions and anthologies. Some of the most popular plays of the 20th century have been written by African Americans, and high school students and undergraduates study their works. But for all their popularity and influence, African American playwrights have received less critical attention than poets and novelists. This reference offers thorough critical assessments of more than 60 African American dramatists from the 19th century to the present.

Black Women Playwrights

Black Women Playwrights PDF Author: Carol P. Marsh-Lockett
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317944941
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
This collection of critical essays on plays by African American female playwrights from the post-reconstruction period to the present provides thematic analyses of plays by major and less widely known African American women playwrights The contributors examine the plays as vehicles of public discourse, and as explorations of issues of African American identity. Essays explore the themes of sexuality, agency, anger, and self-concept in the plays of African American Women.

The A to Z of African American Theater

The A to Z of African American Theater PDF Author: Anthony D. Hill
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810870614
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
African American Theater is a vibrant and unique entity enriched by ancient Egyptian rituals, West African folklore, and European theatrical practices. A continuum of African folk traditions, it combines storytelling, mythology, rituals, music, song, and dance with ancestor worship from ancient times to the present. It afforded black artists a cultural gold mine to celebrate what it was like to be an African American in The New World. The A to Z of African American Theater celebrates nearly 200 years of black theater in the United States, identifying representative African American theater-producing organizations and chronicling their contributions to the field from its birth in 1816 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on actors, directors, playwrights, plays, theater producing organizations, themes, locations, and theater movements and awards.

AFROCENTRIC THEATRE

AFROCENTRIC THEATRE PDF Author: Carlton W. Molette and Barbara J. Mole
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1483637395
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Afrocentric Theatre updates the Molettes' groundbreaking book, Black Theatre: Premise and Presentation, that has been required reading in many Black theatre courses for over twenty-fi ve years. Afrocentric theatre is a culturally-based art form, not a race-based one. Culture and values shape perceptions of such phenomena as time, space, heroism, reality, truth, and beauty. These culturally variable social constructions determine standards for evaluating and analyzing art and govern the way people perceive theatrical presentations as well as fi lm and video drama. A play is not Afrocentric simply because it is by a Black playwright, or has Black characters, or addresses a Black theme or issue. Afrocentric Theatre describes the nature of an art form that embraces and disseminates African American culture and values. Further, it suggests a framework for interpreting andevaluating that art form and assesses the endeavors of dramatists who work from an Afrocentric perspective.

Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism Period

Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism Period PDF Author: Linda L. Stein
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810861410
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism Period: Strategies and Sources will help those interested in researching this era. Authors Linda L. Stein and Peter J. Lehu emphasize research methodology and outline the best practices for the research process, paying attention to the unique challenges inherent in conducting studies of national literature.

Afro-American Life, History and Culture

Afro-American Life, History and Culture PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 790

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Book Description


Historical Dictionary of African American Theater

Historical Dictionary of African American Theater PDF Author: Anthony D. Hill
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538117290
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 755

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Book Description
This second edition of Historical Dictionary of African American Theater reflects the rich history and representation of the black aesthetic and the significance of African American theater’s history, fleeting present, and promise to the future. It celebrates nearly 200 years of black theater in the United States and the thousands of black theater artists across the country—identifying representative black theaters, playwrights, plays, actors, directors, and designers and chronicling their contributions to the field from the birth of black theater in 1816 to the present. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of African American Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on actors, playwrights, plays, musicals, theatres, -directors, and designers. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know and more about African American Theater.

Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism

Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism PDF Author: Angela Courtney
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 1461716705
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The early years of American nationhood, beginning at the close of colonial rule and ending with the onset of the Civil War, saw both a young country and its literature grow in confidence and develop an awareness of self-identity. Pride in the new nation was a primary characteristic of much literary output in the early years of the country, whether in the form of fiction, poetry, drama, essay, travel writing, or journal. As the country grew and generations began to be born on the new land, Romanticism took hold, lauding not only the construct of the nation but also the natural power and potential of the country. This era of American literary expression has left behind a rich legacy of traditionally canonized authors, as well as material published in the growing periodical press that was of immediate importance to the population at the time. Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism: Strategies and Sources examines the resources that deal with the literature produced in the approximately 70 years of antebellum American literature. Covering all formats, the volume discusses bibliographies, indexes, research guides, archives, special collections, microform, and digital primary text resources and how they are best utilized for a literary research project. Suggestions are offered for best practices for research while exploring a wide selection of resources that run the gamut from classic standards of American literary bibliography through contemporary open-access digital resources.