The significance of the blues as a cultural expression in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

August Wilson’un Broadway’de sahnelenen ilk oyunu olan Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, yazarın daha sonraki tüm tiyatro oyunlarında uygulayacağı blues müziği, zenci toplumunun Amerika’da gerçek ve öyküsel tarihi gibi önemli bazı konuları içerir. “Ma Rainey” (1886-1939), Afrikalı Amerikalı folk kültüründe bilinen bir blues sanatçısıdır. Oyunun önemli bölümünü, bu toplumun blues müziği kültürel ifade biçimi olarak algılaması ve Amerika’da yaşadıkları acıları blues müzik yoluyla aktarmaları oluşturmaktadır. Blues müziği karakterlere geçmişte yaşadıklarını öykülemekte ve yaşamlarını anlamlandırmada yol göstermektedir. Bu makalenin amacı blues müziğin hem müzisyen hem de Afrikalı Amerikalı karakterler üzerinde kültürel bir ifade biçimi olarak anlamını araştırmaktır. Blues müziği genel anlamda Afrikalı Amerikalı toplumun duygusal yapısını (acılarını, neşesini, arzu ve beklentilerini), deneyimlerini, gelenek ve kültürlerini yansıtmaktadır.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'da blues müziğin kültürel ifade biçimi olarak anlamı

August Wilson’s first Broadway play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom brings several issues on stage that reflects his whole contour of theatre such as the blues, and his interest in both factual and fictional history. Ma Rainey (1886-1939), ‘Mother of Blues’ was the acknowledged blues singer in African American folk culture. It is an integral part of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in which the blues is defined as ‘a cultural expression and an understanding of life’ for African American community throughout their painful history in the U.S. The blues primarily refers to African American culture, and it reminds the characters of their past history; through the music the characters tell their stories, and through this try to understand life itself, as the title character of the play defines that the blues is ‘life’s way of talking.’ The intention of this article is to analyze the relations of the blues music and its significance as a cultural expression on characters as both musicians and African Americans in the play. The blues reflects the emotional content (sorrows, joys, plights and affairs, etc.) of African Americans, their experiences, their traditions and culture, at large.

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