【作者】 黄坚；

【导师】 费春放；

【作者基本信息】 华东师范大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2009， 博士

【摘要】 身份认同的问题无处不在。在不同的国度和不同的历史时期，身份认同的问题导致了一定的社会裂痕和种种冲突。鉴于它在现代社会中的重要性，此问题引起了人们广泛的关注。经过多年发展与完善，身份认同研究已逐渐成为一门显学。黑人身份认同的困惑是美国文化与文学中的一个特殊现象，它体现在以盎格鲁—撒克逊白人种族占主导地位的美国社会中黑人对自身文化身份认同的迷惘。这种迷惘不仅是生理上的，亦是心理上的。很多早期的黑人文学作品在不同程度上反映了这个现象，其中尤以杜波依斯提出的黑人身份的二重性最具概括性。二次世界大战以来，美国政府对外宣传民主政策、对内推行种族歧视，这种巨大的社会差异激发了黑人强烈的种族意识。美国文坛涌现出越来越多的黑人作家，以犀利的文笔针砭社会弊端。拉尔夫·艾利森、理查德·赖特、艾丽斯·沃克、阿米尼·巴拉克、托尼·莫里森，奥古斯特·威尔逊等就是这个群体中的佼佼者。他们的作品无一例外地触及了美国社会中的黑人处境，也无一例外地探讨了黑人身份认同的主题。奥古斯特·威尔逊被视为继尤金·奥尼尔、阿瑟·米勒、田纳西·威廉斯后美国最杰出的剧作家，他花费了二十余年撰写的十个系列剧如实地反映了美国二十世纪每十年的社会变迁，堪称世纪之作。其创作不仅诠释了剧作家对美国非裔文化的深刻反思，亦激起了美国黑人正视种族隔离和种族歧视的勇气。身份认同即是关于“我是谁”的问题。不少美国黑人对自身身份倍感困惑，甚至刻意回避，而威尔逊却自豪地对此予以承认。他希望黑人同胞能够积极地正视自己的身份，并将这种想法付诸于他的世纪之作。威尔逊创造了许多生动的戏剧人物，他们的言行举止直接或间接地反映了美国黑人的生活现状，促使观众、读者进一步深入了解并思考美国黑人身份认同的问题。本文以亨利·泰弗尔和詹姆斯·J·特纳的社会身份认同理论为主要理论参考，从黑人的以往经历、南方情结、布鲁斯音乐及对上帝的接受与否这四个方面对奥古斯特·威尔逊剧作中黑人身份的建构进行分析。美国黑人的以往经历实则就是他们的命运抗争史。个体的身份认同与其经历密不可分。每个群体中的个体所经历的一切与该群体的其他个体的经历汇总，从而进一步巩固了该群体的身份认同。在过去的一百年中，美国黑人经历了大迁徙、大萧条、民权运动、黑人权利运动等一系列重大历史事件。威尔逊的剧作不仅能让他的同胞记住自己经历的以往，同时也展示了美国黑人族群的独特性，进一步巩固了黑人的身份认同。南方情结是威尔逊戏剧的一大特征。美国黑人眼中的南方与白人眼中的南方可谓大相径庭。某种意义上，南方既是黑人的梦魇，又是黑人的梦乡。内战结束后，许多黑人选择了离开，在北方重新开始自己的新生活。然而他们身处北方，南方却如影相随。他们的生活习惯、思维方式乃至名字，都深深地烙上了南方的印记。上世纪六十年代伊始，南方种族关系的改善及就业机会的增加导致不少黑人渴望回归南方并付诸于行动，这种行为见证了他们对南方的再次认识。与此同时，地域之于身份认同的作用在黑人身份认同上得到了有力的印证。将布鲁斯音乐融入戏剧创作是威尔逊的一大创举。布鲁斯音乐以其个性化的歌词、和谐的节奏、即兴的发挥以及忧郁的旋律吸引了众多的听众。该音乐发展至今，已经被纳入主流音乐的行列，它的许多元素被广泛地运用到摇滚乐及流行音乐当中。对于黑人来说，布鲁斯音乐是一种宣泄情感的方式、一剂抚慰灵魂的良药，更重要的是它承载了黑人的文化，为黑人认识自我打开了一扇方便之门。对上帝的接受与否反映了美国黑人的宗教观。从数百年前黑人漂洋过海，被逼为奴的那一天开始，黑人即被剥夺了一切，他们的语言、文化、宗教均遭受了白人社会的冲击。自身宗教的丧失，造成了黑人精神依托的缺损。社会的不公、经济的拮据、地位的低下迫使他们渴望灵魂救赎。在面对白人宗教影响之际，一部分黑人表现出顺从和接受，也有不少黑人坚决予以抵制。威尔逊塑造的人物生动形象地反映了这一社会现状。无论他们是消极接受或是坚决抵制都本能地捍卫了自己的非洲性，同时也间接地巩固了自己的身份认同。文章结尾部分肯定了威尔逊在戏剧上取得的巨大成就。威尔逊通过他的世纪之作完成了自我身份的认同。同时作为一个有社会责任感的剧作家，他引导美国黑人去寻找自我并鼓励他们完善自我，逐步完成从“我是谁”到“我们是谁”这一黑人身份认同的转变。更多还原

【Abstract】 Identity is ominipresent nowadays and problems of identity causevarious social cleavages and conflicts in different countries and differentperiods. Due to its vital role in modern society, identity has become a lesson ofhigh concern for people. After many years of hypothesis, debate, research anddevelopment, study on culture identity has gradually become a prominentsubject globally.The perplexity of African American identity is a unique phenomenon inAmerican literature and culture, which embodies American blacks’ totalloss intheir identity in the WASP society. Such a loss is not only physiological but alsopsychological, condensed as W. E. B. Du Boisian“twoness”or“duality”anddemonstrated in many African American writings. After the Second World War,African Americans obtained more chances to understand the sharp contrastbetween democratic doctrines advocated by American government and racialdiscrimination practiced domestically. This further inspired their racialconsciousness, stimulating their participation in political reform. More andmore African American writers emerged in American literature, fiercelycriticizing social drawbacks with their acute insights, profound thoughts andscathing writings. Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Amini Baraka,Tony Morrison, August Wilson, just to name a few, are all leading figures ofAfrican American literature. Their works, with no exception, probed into thetheme of African American identity.August Wilson is one of the most prominent African Americanplaywrights of the twentieth century. He is believed as the fourth greatestplaywright after Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Hislifetime of drama writing has peeled back layers of misinformation aboutAfrican Americans by methodically probing the twentieth century decade bydecade. Wilson’s“Century Cycles”, from Jitney to Radio Golf, represent his effort to draw renewed attention to certain historical moments and culture inthe African American past since 1900. This achievement has not onlyilluminated the playwright’s intuitive insight of African American culture, butalso empowered African Americans confronting racial segregation anddiscrimination.Identity, simply speaking, is the question about“who am l?”Unlike manyAmerican blacks who are confused about or even try to avoid this question,Wilson proudly announces that he is an African American before he is a manor playwright. At the same time, he hopes his fellow blacks would face theiridentity bravely by anchoring his oeuvre in rich and colorful African Americanculture. Every character in his drama, via their action or words, directly orindirectly shows his or her idea about the identity, which either reflects thestatus quo of African Americans or help the audience to further understandAfrican American identity in an objective way. This dissertation, mainly drawingon Henry Tajfel and James C. Turner’s theory of social identity, considers fourmain factors functioning in the formation of African American identity inWilson’s dramaturgy: the past experience, the South Complex, the blues andthe attitude toward God.The past experience of African Americans, in other words, is their historyof resisting and challenging their fate. Personal identity comes from one’s pastexperience. What he or she has undergone or witnessed can be a constantreminder of one’s ’self.’ The past experience of an individual graduallyconverges and becomes shared experiences with which group identity forms.As a distinct racial group, African Americans undergo a lot during the past onehundred years, such as the Great Migration, the Depression, the Civil RightsMovement, the Black Power Movement, etc,. Wilson’s plays can help his mento recall what they have experienced, and simultaneously, illustrate theuniqueness of African Americans as a racial group and further maintain theiridentity.Wilson’s South Complex is another salient characteristic in his drama. It is well known that the South conveys a very subtle meaning to AfricanAmericans. Before their liberation, African Americans were enslaved, torturedand even killed in that vast area. To a certain extent, the very mention of theSouth arouses immediate unhappiness and bitterness of black people. Thepost-bellum period witnessed African Americans’ migration. They yearned for anew life in the North. However, the South still follows those African Americansas their shadows. Their life styles, their way of thinking and even their namesagain and again triggered their memory of the South, reinforcing their identityalong with the past experience.As for the blues, it is no exaggeration that August Wilson has adroitlywoven this unique black music into his dramas. Not only have the complicatedfeeling, the gloomy mood, the rich information and the random improvisation ofthe blues attracted a lot of people, but the blues itself deeply influenced manyother kinds of music. Today, the blues is labeled as a mainstream music and itsmusical factors are applied in rock music and pop music. It is acknowledgedthat the blues is an encyclopedia of African Americans, and at the same time, itis the pride of those people. Trapped in a white society, African Americansneed the blues to expresses their emotions, so this music in a way becomesthe best therapy for their souls. Pursuing their own song correlates with theirpursuit of“self."African Americans’ attitudes toward God reflect their religious views.Separated from the African continent, those enslaved blacks were deprived oftheir cultural treasure. Africans are a religious people, so losing their religion isequal to lose their spiritual support. Living in a totally strange society, theblacks are more or less affected by the white man’s religion. Some accept itwhile many others uncompromisingly refuse it. Those adherents’ ornon-adherents’ attitude toward God correspond with their maintenance of theirAfricanness, which definitely consolidates their African American identity.At the end of this dissertation, August Wilson is evaluated as an eminentplaywright. As an individual, he fulfills his personal identity with his ten-play cycle. As a responsible playwright, he guides his fellow African Americans tofind their song and“self”and make all his theatre audiences and readersreassess African American identity.更多还原