Assertion of Shamanism in August Wilson's Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Abstract

August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone highlights the African cultural practice, the Shamanic tradition of African-American people, which unites the displaced lots in America in the making of the play. The major characters, Bynum and Loomis endeavor to unite the people and heal them through their special power that they claim to have possessed culturally. So, their effort to bind and heal sick, lost, and separated people physically as well as spiritually through herbs, black songs and rituals, reflects Shamanic tradition of African-American people in the modern American society. This asserts the shamanic practice in modern times.