Carlee Lane

“The Black Aesthetic and the Denial of Mainstream Allegory in LeRoi Jones’ ‘Dutchman'”

My paper examines the 1964 play, “Dutchman,” by LeRoi Jones that ushered in the Black Arts Movement. The play incorporates allusions to three well-known cultural symbols and mythologies: the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, The Underground Railroad, and The Flying Dutchman. These biblical, historical, and mythical allusions are all established at the beginning of the play; however, I argue that they do not interact with one another, and they resist characterizing the play as a whole. Rather than focusing on one historical or mythological metaphor and bringing it to completion in the play, Jones presents multiple in a confused way that outlines his rejection of mainstream American symbolism and allegory. In fact, he actively opposes each allusion by way of contradiction and ambiguity. Jones disturbs these three well-known allegories and creates fragmentation and ambiguity in order to artistically reveal not only that joining them is impossible, just as the Black Arts Movement advocated that full assimilation with white society will lead to the downfall of black society, but also to display that mainstream symbolism and assimilation with white values should be avoided at all costs. Thus, Jones characterizes the Black Arts Movement by resisting mainstream allegories, urging for black individuals to reject attempts to assimilate into white America, and illustrating that until they de-Americanize they will remain culpable for their own victimization. Therefore, in my paper, I argue that in “Dutchman,” LeRoi Jones is employing intentional fragmentation in order to deny these three mainstream allegories in the play from reaching fruition. By doing so, he ushers in the Black Arts Movement that focuses on originality and separating art from the symbolism of mainstream America in order to denounce assimilation with white society and endorse de-Americanization.

Carlee Lane is an MA Candidate at Fordham University.