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August Wilson Radio Golf Analysis

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August Wilson’s Radio Golf, the last installment of his ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle, explores the evolution of the past and the present in regards to the history and culture of the African American race. Radio Golf, as well as the rest of his plays in the cycle are very heavily influenced by Wilson’s background as an African-American growing up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh. His experiences shaped the portrayal of the lives of the African-American characters in his plays. However, Wilson’s approach to depicting history through his work is quite different; his style is very unique. Wilson’s main concern as it pertained to his craft, was that the emotional strife, passion, and culture of the black race was evident. Rather, he felt his work …show more content…

Harry J. Elam’s novel, The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson, includes a very intricately written introduction section entitled, (W)righting History: A Meditation in Four Beats, that analyzes Wilson’s personal writing style. Wilson is quoted stating, “Despite my interest in history, I have always been more concerned with culture, and while my plays have an overall historical feel, their settings are fictions, and they are peopled with invented characters whose personal histories fit within the historical context in which they live” (Wilson qtd. in Elam). It is evident that Wilson exclusively requires a historical context in order to pay tribute to African American culture that has previously been ignored. Perhaps, in Radio Golf it is hard for members of the Hill District to allow for this type of change to their culture in the form of gentrification, when they as a people and a culture were never recognized or accepted for who they were before. How can a community move forward, when they were never allowed to properly settle into their

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