Community as a Force of Action in Lorraine Hansberry's "Les Blancs"

Authors

Lily Jensen, BYUFollow

Keywords

Lorraine Hansberry, Les Blancs, Theatre, Literary Studies, Community, Protest

Abstract

This paper explores Hansberry’s philosophy of community in her 1970 play, Les Blancs. The paper analyzes Hansberry’s use of complex characterization in this text to show the wide reach of the colonial power structure and to show what is required of a community to push for effective action. The paper also analyzes the National Theatre’s 2016 production of Les Blancs, and how this production incorporates and enhances Hansberry’s philosophy of community through the characteristics afforded through theatre as a medium.

Issue and Volume

Winter 2024

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Jensen, Lily (2024) "Community as a Force of Action in Lorraine Hansberry's "Les Blancs"," Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism: Vol. 17: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/criterion/vol17/iss1/5