The Gem Of The Ocean, Joe Turner s Come And Gone And The...

Myth as a semiological system in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Piano Lesson Abstract Myths are one of the most important elements included in the history of not only African-American lives but also the lives of each and every one of us. Myths are inevitable human resources at times when no other idea justifies our being. As Barthes posits, for it is human history which converts reality into speech, and it alone rules the life and the death of mythical language. Ancient or not, mythology can only have an historical foundation, for myth is a type of speech chosen by history: it cannot possibly evolve from the nature of things. This study looks into the significance of Myths and their determining roles as semiological systems in August Wilson s dramatic twentieth century cycle plays; Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Piano Lesson. In these plays, myths take the forms of individuals, rituals and even ancestral objects. It can be observed that each one of these elements performs the most important role in conveying the significance of the Afric an-American psyche and delicately portrays the eminent influence of ancestral backgrounds in shaping the lives of each character. The works of scholars such as Roland Barthes, Henry Gates, as well as many more, have been employed to better grasp this matter. Key words: Myth, semiological system, African-American psyche, mythical language, ritual Introduction