A RAISIN IN THE SUN: the dream of RECOGNITION

Abstract

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) appeared at the beginning of renewed political activity on the part of the blacks; it is a pamphlet about the dream of recognition of black people and the confusion of purposes and means to reach such recognition. It embodies ideas that have been uncommon on the Broadway stage in any period. Situations such as a black family moving into an all-white neighborhood were not familiar before this time; they were just beginning to emerge. In depicting this so realistically, Hansberry depends more on her personal experience as an African American embittered by social prejudices and discrimination.