Displaced Self in Polyethnic America: Rhizomatic Identity of Afro-American Flâneur in August Wilson’s the Piano Lesson

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

The figure of flâneur as a cosmopolitan wanderer in the existential quest for the self can find its transregional manifestation in African Americans as the ceaseless travelers who similarly have been endeavored to relocate self in the hostile polyethnic land of America. It is the self whose ongoing trans-regional mode of existence and its performative actions find appropriate incarnation in postmodern African American dramatic context. Being distinguished with their performative identity in negotiation with others and a quester for the displaced self, Wilsonian character can be the best manifestation of flâneur in contemporary time. Besides that, considering Wilson’s special focus on the determinative role of a marginal character called warrior spirit in being the authentic narrative of African American history, this study, applying Baudelaire’s definition and Benjamin’s theory of flâneur on Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (1990), aims at demonstrating how Boy Willie as one of the warrior spirits of Wilson can be the potential manifestation of African American flâneur. Through drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s postmodern theoretical concept of rhizome in A Thousand Plateau (1980), it also seeks to explore how the significant identity transformation of Boy Willie to African American flâneur can be a proper conduit for Wilson’s postmodern recursive dramatic vision for remapping African American history. Moreover, it also shed light on how rhizomatic Wilsonian flâneur can regain Africanness in America while disclaiming any privileged thinking subject in the dichotomy of Black and White.

Keywords

References

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