Struggle, Mifflin states that struggle means to be strenuously engaged
with a problem, a task, or an undertaking. In other words, struggle is a comprehensive process of surviving difficult situation or achieving certain goals.
This might take a long time and tiring process that could require serious thinking and action. Mifflin, 1996: 1782
Identity as Harry H. L. Kitano states, it
is “how an individual perceives and feels about
“self remains” that serves as the end result of a process of socialization that includes the family, the community, the ethnic group, and the
society.” Kitano, 1985: 82
Racial Stereotypes are automatic and exaggerated mental pictures that we hold about all members of a particular racial group. uuc.nd.edu, 10 Sept 2016
6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
Amiri Baraka’s
Dutchman
is a famous play which tells of the short relationship between a black young man and a white woman inside a subway
train. Since it was performed, there has been some research and criticism about this play. Many articles and reviews also appear to criticize and summarize this
play. In January 2014, Douglas Kern wrote a research about this play. He
reviews the
Dutchman
play as a depiction of racial tensions that happened in that time. As he describes in the article,
Earlier I suggested that Dutchman remains a topic for debate, as the most written about of
all of Baraka’s plays. And yet, because the language and characters of the play clearly depict the racial tensions present in America
during the 1960s, I find a majority of these debates problematic. Kern, 2014: 33
As he stated above, this play seems to have issues depicted through the explanation.
He also states “Here, besides exposing her own extreme racism, Lula criticizes Clay for assimilating and relinquishing his ownership over a unique
Black identity; ironically, this complete lack of ownership over identity was the same fate suffered by American slaves.” Kern, 2014: 38. Through his statement,
the writer finds an insight that his research has a same play work used by the writer, and it also contains racial and identity issues explained in the research. His
research helps the writer to know and understand about the play better, because it also involves historical stories related to both the play and the event at that time.
Emilia Trisna Adiputri, a student of English Letters at Sanata Dharma University in 2006 did her undergraduate research about this play.
In her research, she studies the significance of combining realism and theater of the absurd. She
states that The combination of realism and theatr
e of the absurd in Amiri Baraka’s
Dutchman
makes this play achieving its purpose to deliver message about racial discrimination which continuously exist. Both realism and theatre of
the absurd has their own contribution to the play. Realism with its lifelike setting makes the author easier in portraying the condition and situation of
subway which represent United States in 1960s, especially relationship between Whites and Blacks. Adiputri, 2006: 51
Underlining the title that has a same play work used by the writer, her thesis helps the writer understand how the flow of the play goes and helps the writer
understand the play more deeply from another perspective. Indeed, from her thesis, it helps the writer understand racial issues from a different perspective.
One of the statements about racial issues found in her thesis is “... this play
achieving its purpose to deliver message about racial discrimination which contin
uously exist”. Another study about this play comes from an article written by Sabah
Atallah K. A Diyaiy, Ph.D. In the article, he describes the dilemma of Cla y’s
identity as a Black Man who dresses and speaks resembling a White Man. He states
Of Jones’ play
Dutchman
1964. The events takes place when subway train stops at an underground station. ... He is wearing a buttoned-down
collar and suit. He surrenders his black identity. He adopts the dress,
speech and manners of the white bourgeois society. His aspirations enslave him. Diyaiy, 2009: 14
The statement concerns the same perspective as the writer that Clay’s covers his
Black identity through devices usually worn and used by Whites . Clay’s dilemma
about his identity shows that he wants to have awareness in his society that judges him by the color of skin. He knows that living as a Black Man in America is not
easy, especially in that era where all Black people struggled for their freedom as mankind. This article helps the writer understand the issue of self that Clay
struggled with. From the aforementioned study and review,
Dutchman
becomes a significant work which talks about the situation of African American life in that
time, in the 1960s. Based on the related study above, the writer will use all studies to help the writer to analyze the racial stereotyping towards
Clay’s identity.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character is one of the most important elements in literary work, in this case in drama or play work. Without the existence of characters, there are no
stories to be written. According to M. H. Abrams
’s about the description about character and characterization. He states that
The person represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral,
intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the person says and their distinctive ways of saying it
– the dialogue – from what they do
– the action. The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and
