Prelude to a Saturday nighter

Date of Award

2010

Degree Name

M.A. in English

Department

Department of English

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Albino Carrillo

Abstract

This thesis pertains to the forgotten women dramatists of the Harlem/New Negro Renaissance of the 1920's and 1930's. It is divided into two parts: Preface and one-act drama. The Preface addresses the problems and issues when researching these women, namely the fact that there is little research devoted solely to their contributions to the movement. Set in the home of Georgia Douglas Johnson in late summer of 1929. Johnson is one of the most prolific women dramatists of the Harlem/New Negro Renaissance, whose works expanded even into the Civil Rights Movement, the one-act drama consists of a meeting between Johnson and Zora Neale Hurston, who is most notable for her non-dramatic works, despite the fact that it was in drama that she first made her mark. The first scene, set in the parlor, attends to the issue of race and how each woman goes about addressing their own representation of how race affects the African American community. In the second scene, the women are in the kitchen and address the most pressing issue of gender relations within the African American community.

Keywords

Hurston, Zora Neale Drama, Johnson, Georgia Douglas, 1886-1966 Drama, African American women dramatists History and criticism, African American women dramatists Drama, Harlem Renaissance History and criticism

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2010, author

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