Theories of Art: James Baldwin

People feel most confident to express themselves through art. The very nature of art allows for self-expression, creative license, controversy, and subjectivity. Although Aristotle argued in his work, Poetics (1962), that art is inherently objective, we can all agree that the content itself can in fact be subjective. The Harlem Renaissance sparked the “New Negro” identity movement, a subjective approach to viewing blacks (Cameron, 2018). This movement emboldened Black Americans to express themselves as they saw themselves and would like to be seen by others. It helped them establish their identity despite the past and look to their future as an American. James Baldwin, notoriously known for his fiction and nonfiction works, also explored the Black American’s identity in theater. Baldwin’s performance theory rivaled traditional theater theories as well as art in general during his time and the previous generation because he chose to show the black man authentically. His works, especially his plays and essays on theater, contributed to the era now known as Naturalism and Realism.

Baldwin’s theater theory “expos[es] the delusions that perpetuate inequality and injustice” (Mitchell, 2012). During the Harlem Renaissance, music by black artists became more and more popular and accepted as art. Baldwin addresses the reality, however, that almost all of that music fantasized black life. By fantasizing black life the way some authors during the Harlem Renaissance did by emphasizing how beautiful it is to be black, most likely unintentionally, they distanced the truth and reality. Baldwin says that Americans seem to only appreciate the struggles the blacks went through and how beautiful they too are because the music possesses a “protective sentimentality” with "symbols and signs in hieroglyphics" and limits the extent to which the “American Negro has been able to tell his story” (Mitchell, 2012). When black artists lessen the realistic nature of their lives and what they experienced, not only does it diminish themselves, but it also “limits [the white American’s] understanding of it” (Mitchell, 2012), Baldwin argues. His primary goal of performance theater, as revealed in his essays, was to use the theater as the vehicle to “strip away sentimentality and any aesthetic convention that softens the blow leveled by the critique inherent in black life” (Mitchell, 2012). No longer should blacks fear sharing their stories, their struggles, and the hardships. Only by sharing and being honest will Americans truly be able to confront the past, embrace the past, overcome the past, and move forward stronger because of the past.

One major element of Baldwin’s performance theory that proves unique is his focus on the actor not the audience. Instead of focusing on creating a character that the audiences would expect and recognize, a stereotyped black male shown either dangerously aggressive or childish like in most writing, Baldwin chooses to show an authentic black man. Traditional performance theory had previously focused on the audience and anticipating what the audience would want to see. Ancient Greece performed epics, a genre that specifically emphasizes a culture’s history and values. Shakespearean theater, while it does address some controversial topics, was still primarily written for the audience. Choosing to focus on the actor, to show the black actor as a normal person achieved one of Baldwin’s greatest goals and hopes for Americans: “to rediscover our connection to each other” (Mitchell, 2012). Black men had the capability to make the same decisions as white men. Both had to work to care for their families; both could choose their personal spirituality. While blacks still did not have the same means or opportunities as whites, Baldwin wanted to at least show that the capability of both was equal. He feared that if Americans did not accept the reality that our pasts unite us, then we would not be able to overcome our differences and racist animosity towards each other. Because he focused so much on the “Negro as a man,” Baldwin believed theater could prove and help Americans believe that “we are all each other’s flesh and blood” (Mitchell, 2012).

Theater differs from the written word dramatically because theater writing is never intended to be solely read; it is meant to be seen. Sometimes, to fully grasp a concept, people need to see it in action. Although plenty of black literature began surfacing during Reconstruction and the Harlem Renaissance, the majority of Americans still were not seeing blacks and whites as equals in everyday life. The cliché saying, “Seeing is believing” must have some truth to it; otherwise, Baldwin would have continued his fiction and nonfiction works. Instead, he expanded his area of influence by writing and producing theater as well. If more Americans, white and black, could simply see each other as human, Baldwin believed America would be able to properly deal with the past and embrace a new identity for the future. It is always about identity—who we were and who we are.

References

Aristotle. (1962). ‘Aristotle on the art of poetry’: Poetics. Oxford.

Cameron, C. (2018). The new negro renaissance and African American secularism: New perspectives on

the black intellectual tradition. Northwestern University Press, JSTOR.

Mitchell, K. (2012). James Baldwin, performance theorist, sings the blues for Mister Charlie, American

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