Description
Civil disobedience has a tattered history in the American story. Described by Martin Luther King Jr. as both moral reflection and political act, the performance of civil disobedience in the face of unjust laws is also, Patrice Rankine argues, a deeply artistic practice. Modern parallels to King's civil disobedience can be found in black theater, where the black body challenges the normative assumptions of classical texts and modes of creation. This is a theater of civil disobedience.
Utilizing Aristotle's Poetics, Rankine ably invokes the six aspects of Aristotelian drama--character, story, thought, spectacle, song, and diction. He demonstrates the re-appropriation and rejection of these themes by black playwrights August Wilson, Adrienne Kennedy, and Eugene O'Neill. Aristotle and Black Drama frames the theater of civil disobedience to challenge the hostility that still exists between theater and black identity.
Author: Patrice D. Rankine
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Published: 07/15/2013
Pages: 270
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.32lbs
Size: 9.12h x 6.40w x 1.02d
ISBN13: 9781602584525
ISBN10: 1602584524
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | General
- Social Science | Discrimination
- Drama | American | General
About the Author
Patrice D. Rankine is Professor of Classics and Dean for the Arts and Humanities at Hope College.