Two Trains Running Oyununda Hayatta Kalma Mücadelesi

Year 2023, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 74 - 88, 30.06.2023

Tuba Baykara

https://doi.org/10.58306/wollt.1285534

Abstract

August Wilson’ın Two Trains Running adlı eseri, siyahilerin Amerikan toplumundaki deneyimlerinin tarihsel bir kaydı olan Century Cycle adını verdiği serisinin yedinci oyunudur. Her toplumun yapısı ve dinamikleri farklı olduğu için, o topluma ait olan bireylerin yaşantıları da söz konusu faktörler aracılığıyla şekillenir. Toplumsal normlar, değerler ve güç örüntüleri arasındaki karmaşık ilişki, toplumdaki bireysel ve kolektif deneyimlerin şekillenmesinde önemli bir rol oynar. Bu noktada Amerikan toplumundaki siyahilerin deneyimleri oldukça çarpıcıdır çünkü sistematik ırkçılık aracılığıyla, kölelik ve ayrımcılığa maruz kalmışlardır. Ten renkleri sebebiyle toplumsal sınırların dışına itilen siyah halkı kontrol altında tutmak ve beyaz tahakkümün ekonomik ve siyasi gerekçelerle devamını sağlamak için, ırkçılık ideolojik açıdan stratejik bir araç olarak kullanılmıştır. Siyahi yazarlar edebi sahnede ezilen siyahi halkın sesini duyurmaya çalışmış ve tiyatroyu bir direnme aracı olarak görmüşlerdir. Siyahi yazarların uyandırdığı toplumsal farkındalıktan yola çıkan bu çalışma, Wilson’ın Two Trains Running oyununda siyahi halkın mücadelesini irdelemektedir. Wilson, siyahi halkın kendi kültürel değerlerine bağlılıkları ve Afrikalı-Amerikalı kimlikleriyle beyaz toplumun bireyleri olduğuna dikkat çeken ve ayrımcı olmayan bir yazardır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, siyah karakterlerin beyaz egemenliğinin eşitsiz, adaletsiz ve ayrımcı uygulamalarıyla baş etme yollarına odaklanmaktadır.

Keywords

August Wilson, Two Trains Running, Racism, Inequality, Resistance

Struggle for Survival in Two Trains Running

Abstract

August Wilson’s play, Two Trains Running is the seventh play of his Century Cycle which chronicles black people’s experiences in American society. Since the structure and dynamics of each society are distinctive, the experiences of individuals belonging to that society are naturally shaped by these factors. The complicated relationship between societal norms, values, and power structures play a pivotal role in shaping the individual and collective experiences in society. In that respect, the social practices of black people in American society are notably outstanding as they have been subjected to slavery and segregation through systematic racism. Ideologically, racism has been used as a strategic tool to control the black people, who were pushed out of social boundaries because of their skin color and to sustain the white dominance for economic and politic reasons. Significantly, black authors have tried to be the voice of the oppressed black people on the literary arena and considered the theater as a way of resistance. Based on the societal awareness aroused by black authors, this study analyzes the struggle of black people in Wilson’s Two Trains Running. Drawing attention to the significant fact that black people are the members of the white society with their loyalty to their own cultural values and their African-American identity, Wilson is an antiracist playwright. Relatedly, the central focus of this study is the ways of coping with the unequal, unfair and discriminative practices of the white supremacy.

Keywords

August Wilson, Two Trains Running, racism, inequality, resistance

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