Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 260-274).

vi, 63 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In 1927, James Weldon Johnson published God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, a book of poems based on sermons heard in the African American Church. There are eight accompanying illustrations by Aaron Douglas. These images visually interpret the subject matter of the poems in a style that blends Cubism, Orphism, and Art Deco. Douglas depicted all the figures in these images, human and supernatural, in the form of shadow silhouettes, a stylistic practice he continued throughout his artistic career. The shadow is an ancient archetype in human mythology and psychology. This thesis looks at the depiction of shadows in a Jungian context. I explore the possibility that the use of the shadow allows deeper communication between the audience and the image by accessing the collective unconscious. I also examine the shadow as a metaphor for the socio-political oppression of African Americans rampant in the period between the wars. / Committee in Charge: Dr. W. Sherwin Simmons, Chair; Dr. Kate Mondloch; Dr. Karen Ford