Theater in the 20th Century

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacie McCormick
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
Langston Hughes ◽  
Black Theater ◽  
Theater Companies ◽  
Black Performance ◽  
Black Life ◽  
White Gaze ◽  
Lorraine Hansberry

Black theater in the 20th century comprises a wide array of dramatic productions by black Americans growing out of the legacies of minstrel-era performance of the 19th century. As a result, black theater has largely been driven by the desire to present depictions of black life that were not overdetermined by the white gaze. A dynamic corpus of literary, dramatic, and expressive art, black theater of the 20th century has been foundational to the development of black theater as it is known today. This period was also concerned with questions central to black theater such as: What should black plays be about? Where should black theaters be located? Who can write a black play? What is a black play? Various theater companies, playwrights, and artistic movements have forged responses to such questions with each deepening the textures of black theater. In a significant and early articulation of what black theater should be, W.E.B. Du Bois, writing in the July 1926 issue of The Crisis, established the governing mantra for the Harlem-based theater company the Krigwa Players and black theater more broadly. He states that it should be should be “About us by us . . . for us . . . [and] near us.” Voices such as Alain Locke and Theophilus Lewis would deepen these conversations with their own perspectives on the purpose of black theater with Locke advocating for a lessened emphasis on social issues and Lewis expressing the need to appeal to working-class black Americans whose support for black theater was unwavering. Moreover, theater companies; artistic and social movements; and the work of playwrights such as Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, August Wilson, George C. Wolfe, Adrienne Kennedy, and Suzan-Lori Parks would go on to develop a critical body of work that makes up black theater of the 20th century. Black theater of the 20th century is intrinsically tied to black performance histories of storytelling, improvisation, “signifyin’,” humor, and masking. This dramatic work has contributed greatly to the project of self-authorship and expression that sits at the heart of black literature. This entry traverses the many contours of 20th-century black theater moving from broader explorations of anthologies and theater histories to close analyses of playwrights and finally to emergent thematic examinations that signal future directions for the study of 20th-century black theater.

“Every Brother on a Rooftop Can Quote Fanon”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean L. Malloy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Malcolm X ◽  
Amiri Baraka ◽  
The Third ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Lorraine Hansberry ◽  
New Generation

This chapter examines the intersection of the domestic and international developments that shaped the creation of black-led movements that looked beyond the borders of the United States for support and legitimacy in the 1960s. By the mid-1960s, the notion that black Americans should seek solidarity with the Third World rather than looking to Washington for help had attracted advocates ranging from Williams to Malcolm X, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Vicki Garvin, Harold Cruse, and groups such as the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM). The successes—and failures—of these pioneering figures helped pave the way for a new generation of activists, including key figures in the birth and development of the Black Panther Party.

‘Our Technology Was Vernacular’: Radical Technicities in African American Experimental Writing

2020 ◽  
pp. 214-264
Author(s):  
Eric B. White
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Langston Hughes ◽  
Experimental Writing ◽  
Amiri Baraka ◽  
Black Vernacular ◽  
Spatial Practice ◽  
Industrial Modernity ◽  
Black Life ◽  
Definition Of

Chapter 5 focuses on technicities of African American vanguardists, including Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Bennett, Ralph Ellison and Amiri Baraka. These writers joined the civil rights lawyer and writer Pauli Murray in recognising illegal rail travel and other appropriations of infrastructure as signifyin(g) spatial practices. Building on research by sociologists, historians of technology and literary critics, the chapter uses a techno-bathetic framework to explore how railroads became signifyin(g) machines for the everyday technicities of black life throughout the twentieth century. The long-running crises sparked by the Scottsboro trials encouraged African American avant-gardes to formulate a vernacular, counter-servile technicity that served as a hinge between rhetorical and spatial practice. When Ellison claimed that ‘[o]ur technology was vernacular’, the shared valences he identifies between language, technology and strategies of adaptation and appropriation elides closely with Rayvon Fouché’s conception of ‘black vernacular technological creativity’ and Henry Louis Gates, Jr’s definition of motivated signifyin(g). African American vanguardists dragged the invisible and over-determined rail networks, and the spaces that framed them, back into plain sight, and made them the targets of sustained attack. The chapter argues that by doing so, these writers practiced a nuanced vernacular technicity articulated across the longue durée of industrial modernity.

scholarly journals Public organisations of Vologda in the early 20th century

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Kirill А. Ivanov
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Local Population ◽  
The State ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Organisations

The article describes the activities of public organisations in the early 20th century in Vologda and Vologda Province. It is shown that the activity of the public was constantly growing during the study period. Moreover, the political activity of the society was significantly influenced by all-Russia events, while non-political organisations slowly but surely extended their influence to an increasing number of spheres of life of the local population. Public organisations constantly cooperated with both state authorities and local self-government. The research is based on working with materials on Vologda Province, their analysis to understand how the mechanism of cooperation and interaction of local self-government bodies with the provincial government, the Governor and the bureaucracy was built. As a result of the study, it became possible to show that the number of public organisations in Vologda Province had been growing since the early 20th century, although the number of political organisations was not enough. There were also no serious conflicts or opposition from the authorities in relation to public organisations. Most of the public structures were apolitical in nature and dealt mainly with social issues without paying attention to the problems of interaction with the state authorities.

Digital Resources: Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
María C. Gaztambide
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Contemporary Art ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Digital Archive ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Latino Artists

Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art: A Digital Archive and Publications Project is a multiyear initiative at the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA) of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that seeks to consolidate Latin American and Latino art as a field of study and to place it on equal footing with other established aesthetic traditions. It encompasses the recovery, translation into English, and publication of primary texts by Latin American and Latino artists, critics, and curators who have played a fundamental role in the development of modern and contemporary art in countries or communities throughout the Americas. The ICAA makes these essential bibliographic materials available free of charge through a digital archive and a series of fully annotated book anthologies published in English. It is facilitating new historical scholarship on 20th-century Latin American and Latino art through a framework of thirteen open-ended editorial categories that center on thematic rather than more traditional chronological guidelines. This approach broadens the discourse on the modern and contemporary art produced along this cultural axis. A discussion and contextualization of a selection of recovered documents that relate to the editorial category of “Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino?” supports this central argument. These and other little-known or previously inaccessible primary source and critical materials will ultimately encourage interdisciplinary and transnational (re)readings of how aesthetics, social issues, and artistic tendencies have been contested and developed in the region.

Digital Resources: Medical History of Latin America in the 20th Century

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Pacino
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
American Medical ◽  
Medical History ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Collections

Scholarship on Latin America’s medical history has traditionally relied on collections located in specific countries that are housed in national and regional archives, universities, medical schools, and government institutions. Digitized source repositories and reference websites will make these materials more accessible for researchers and students, and it is likely that digitized content will become increasingly available in the coming years. In the 21st century, various institutions in Latin America and the United States have made a concerted effort to digitize materials related to the study of health and medicine in Latin America. This effort is the product of advancements in technology that make digital preservation of material possible, as well as a growing awareness that not all archival collections, especially in Latin America, are stored in optimal conditions. The push for digitization, therefore, is centered on two primary goals: first, to make resources more available to researchers and remove obstacles to the use of archival collections, including accessibility and physical distance or travel restrictions, and second, to preserve materials in danger of decay or neglect from storage in subpar conditions. The digitization of a broad array of materials, including historical documents, newspapers, popular culture, photographs, music, and audio recordings, fosters greater use of these collections by researchers, teachers, and students inside and outside of Latin America and enhanced interaction with the institutions that maintain the digital and original collections. While not exhaustive, these sites demonstrate the extensive range of digitized sources available for the study of Latin America’s medical history. Materials span from the pre-Columbian through modern periods; the priority is collections with significant 20th-century content, but those focused on the colonial period and the 19th century are noted. The collections tap into several historiographical themes and discussions prominent in Latin American medical history, including questions about individual agency and the role of the state in administering health and medical initiatives; race, gender, and discriminatory health practices; social issues, such as prostitution and alcoholism, as public health concerns; debates about who can produce medical knowledge; the creation of medical professionalism and medical authority; and Pan-Americanism and the role of United States influence on Latin American health programs. The pace of digitization has been uneven across Latin America. A country’s wealth and access to resources determines the extent to which materials can be digitized, as do political considerations and legislation regarding transparency. Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina are well represented in the entries, and the collections are either supported by national institutions, such as universities, libraries, or government archives, or sponsored by grants that facilitate the digitization of materials. For example, the collection from Peru relies on a UK-based charitable foundation for its existence. Digital collections based in the United States are located in archival institutions and research centers and focus on the activities of Inter-American, Pan-American, and philanthropic organizations, although not exclusively. Digitized collections greatly improve accessibility to sources related to Latin American medical history, but also depend on the user’s ability to navigate different interfaces and knowledge in how to limit and target searches. Many of the sites allow for keyword searches and the opportunity to browse collections; therefore, a user’s familiarity with the topic, scope, and keywords of a collection will determine the usefulness of search results. Where downloadable material is available, it is provided free of charge, and most of these repositories state a commitment to open access and to growing their digital collections.

Mantous and alpacas as weapons of the weak: Chinese spoof video and self-expression online

First Monday ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Neish Lugg
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Late 20Th Century

Chinese Web users are using video spoofs in an attempt to reclaim expressive space in Chinese-language cyberspace. In a manner reminiscent of shunkouliu (humorous sayings), that circulated particularly widely during the late 20th century, video spoofs are being used to express discontent with a range of political and social issues and policies while using a veil of humour to obfuscate the target of the satire. These spread of these videos and the ideas they express have caused changes to Chinese Internet regulations.

Langston Hughes: Fringe Modernism, Identity and Defying the Interrogator Witch-Hunter

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-179
Author(s):  
YOMNA SABER
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American Literature ◽  
African American Literature ◽  
Langston Hughes ◽  
Claude Mckay ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Black Life ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Many ◽  
Children's Stories

Langston Hughes (1902–67), the wondering wandering poet, has left behind a rich legacy of books that never grow dusty on the shelves. There seems to be no path that Hughes left untrodden; he wrote drama, novels, short stories, two autobiographies, poetry, journalistic prose, an opera libretto, history, children's stories, and even lyrics for songs, in addition to his translations. Hughes was the first African American author to earn his living from writing and his career spans a long time, from the 1920s until the 1960s – he never stopped writing during this period. The Harlem Renaissance introduced prominent black writers who engraved their names in the American canon, such as Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer and Zora Neale Hurston, but Hughes markedly stands out for his artistic achievements and longer career. Hughes had been identified by many as the spokesperson for his race since his works dug deep into black life, and his innovative techniques embraced black dialect and the rhythms of black music. He captured the essence of black life with conspicuous sensitivity and polished his voice throughout four decades. His name also had long been tied to the politics of identity in America. Brooding over his position, Hughes chose to take pride in being black in a racist nation. In his case, the dialectics of identity are more complicated, as they encompass debates involving Africa, black nationalism and competing constructions surrounding a seeming authentic blackness, in addition to Du Bois's double consciousness. Critics still endeavour to decipher the many enigmas Hughes left unresolved, having been a private person and a controversial writer. His career continues to broach speculative questions concerning his closeted sexual orientation and his true political position. The beginning of the new millennium coincided with the centennial of his birth and heralded the advent of new well-researched scholarship on his life and works, including Emily Bernard's Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, 1925–1964 (2001), Kate A. Baldwin's Beyond the Color Line and the Iron Curtain: Reading Encounters between Black and Red, 1922–1963 (2002), Anthony Dawahare's Nationalism, Marxism, and African American Literature between the Wars: A New Pandora's Box (2002), Bruce R. Schwartz's Langston Hughes: Working toward Salvation (2003), and John Edgar Tidwell and Cheryl R. Ragar's edited collection Montage of a Dream: The Art and Life of Langston Hughes (2007), among others.

scholarly journals The Relevance of Louis Adamic in the 21st Century

Two Homelands ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janja Žitnik Serafin
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Research Results ◽  
World Today ◽  
The World

The article first outlines the literature on Louis Adamic (1898–1951), the most successful writer of the Slovenian diaspora. The author then highlights Adamic’s prescience in a number of works dedicated to his original homeland. This is followed by a discussion of Adamic’s views on the mid-20th century global situation and the prospects for its development, which include some of the most pressing social issues in the world today. The author employs the overview method by supplementing her current research results with other scholars’ findings.

scholarly journals The making of a visionary culture: connected histories among Marian apparitions in Portuguese-Brazilian world (1917-1936)

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-178
Author(s):  
Carlos André Silva de Moura ◽  
Dirceu Salviano Marques Marroquim
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Regional Newspapers ◽  
Marian Apparitions ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Catholic Church

This paper will analyze the shaping of supposed Marian apparitions in Pesqueira, a Brazilian city located in Pernambuco, as part of a series of events related to the devotions to Our Lady representations in modern and contemporary periods. Based on the propositions of Cultural History, regional newspapers, ecclesiastical documents, and personal letters were used in order to understand the relation of these events to political, economic, and social issues of the first half of the 20th century. The analysis will suggest that the events in Pesqueira were connected to other religious representations, such as the apparitions in Lourdes (France) and Fatima (Portugal), reinforcing the image of the 20th century as the “golden century” of apparitions to members and followers of the Catholic Church. Therefore, this work highlights the central performance of ecclesiastics, scholars, and devotees in the shaping of new devotions and cults in a specific space in Latin America.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document