Signifyin(g): Ancestral Roots and Black Vernacular in August Wilson's Seven Guitars

Karveh Ej

doi:10.4172/2151-6200.1000239

Abstract

As of all African-American literature, August Wilson's century cycle plays are of significance concerning African- American vernacular. After emancipation, the continued subordination of Blacks represented as an inferior race was justified by the denigration of central characteristics of Black identity such as language. The double-consciousness of the African-American, as mentioned by W.E. DuBois, has brought about differences not only in the social lives of the African-Americans but also in their use of the English language. Seven Guitars is a play in which the interactions between the characters and their language is particularly noticeable. Among the well-known scholars in the field of African-American Literature, Henry Louis Gates is celebrated for his in-depth research concerning African-American Literature, specifically its origins and ancestral connections. Gates posits that the African-American dialect has its roots in ancestral backgrounds. This paper aims to highlight the figuration of everyday language of African- Americans in Seven Guitars and the ways it brings out the personality of each character with emphasis on the work of Gates. It also brings forth the eminent role of ancestral roots and heritage underlying the lives of African- Americans.

Highlights

Gates has been called “the most visible and influential present-day American humanist”
In Figures in Black: Words, Signs and the Racial Self, he writes: “For it is language, the black language of black texts that expresses the distinctive quality of our literary tradition” [1]
Gates traces the origin of the Signifying Monkey in Black culture and vernacular

Summary

Introduction

Gates has been called “the most visible and influential present-day American humanist”. His own writings, as well as his discovery and authentication of the historically significant writings of others, have catapulted him into a limelight seldom experienced by academics. Gates traces the origin of the Signifying Monkey in Black culture and vernacular. He explains, Tales of the Signifying Monkey had their origins in slavery. Tales of the Signifying Monkey had their origins in slavery Hundreds of these have been recorded since the nineteenth century.

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Discussion

Conclusion