ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF ...

a “Negro fairyland.” 275 The exotic, self-conscious fictions of Africa intersect with
modern depictions of slum life and lamentations of “the mumbo jumbo [that is now] dead
in the jungle.” 276
Its secondary characteristic is a parody of the superficiality of minstrelsy. The
“minstrel river” and the “wild crap shooters [who] danced the juba,” are the tattered
remnants of the lost spiritual life and forgotten war campaigns of African tribal culture. 277
In preparation for O’Neill’s drama, Lindsay’s poem exposes the erroneous associations
between African tribal history and African American culture. The broomstick and
cakewalk dancers are not of the Congolese jungle, despite a genetic connection to its lost
tribal groups. Brutus Jones is not a Haitian emperor, despite his cunning but fleeting
dominance over the island. Also, like the play, it flanks the boundary of a mirror on
authentic African American culture, by presenting a complex portrait of blacks in
civilization. In the end, it is a cut above the stereotype, but ultimately still a piece of that
exoticized sculpture of blackness.
Chesse’s production choices express the archetypal approach he took to the play.
He introduced the same meticulous lighting and sound choices that had enriched the
environment of his Hamlet. He subsequently simplified the moral struggle that is
potential in O’Neill’s text and embeded the action with stereotypical black masculinity.
275 Vachael Lindsay, “The Congo,” A Little Archive of Poetry, electronic source (Poetry Junction,
2004). Accessed 29 June 2004. http://poetryarchive.bravepages.com/IKLM/lindsay.html.
276 Ibid.
277 Ibid.
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