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The importance of the Harlem Renaissance
The importance of the Harlem Renaissance
Zora neale hurston thesis introduction
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THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE The Harlem Renaissance occurred during the 1920’s at the same time as World War I. Meanwhile, it’s important to note “that cultural developments during this decade was The Lost Generation of writers after the war--called the Jazz Age witnessed a flowering of African-American music, as well as art and literature in the Harlem Renaissance. Influenced by radio, "talking" pictures, advertising and the rise of professional sports, society became dominated by a mass culture. By the end of the decade, the United States was up against troubled times. The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression ultimately shattered the carefree mood of the 1920s” (American History, 01). To point out, that Ms. Zora Neale Hurston was an African American writer. “In fact, she graduated from Barnard College and was a student of anthropology.” Not only did Ms. Hurston make the study of Negro folklore her special pursuit. “But also, this may very
With the arrival of the civil rights movement, it again acquired wider recognition” (History.com 03).
In the final analysis, The Harlem Renaissance occurred during the 1920’s at the same time as World War I. Thus, The Harlem Renaissance brought about some famous writers and artists, Zora Neale Hurston, and Archibald J. Motley, Jr. to mention a few. Both of African American backgrounds, these two individuals wrote and painted about their lives or what was happening in their lives. Furthermore, Ms. Zora Neale Hurston was most known for a book called: Their Eyes Were Watching God.
In reality, the main female character, Janie, was Ms. Hurston in real life. Despite, “this novel is being known as a feminist novel.” With this intention, Ms. Hurston was letting the world know; “that women are created equal to men” (Hurston, P.S.
The Harlem Renaissance is a term used to describe the expansion and development of African American culture and history, particularly in Harlem. It is believed to have started around 1919, after World War I, and ended around the time of the great depression. During this time period African Americans writers, artists, musicians, and poets all gathered in Harlem and created a center for African American culture.
3. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 51: Afro-American Writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Trudier Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Gale Group, 1987. pp. 133-145.
This paper examines the drastic differences in literary themes and styles of Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, two African--American writers from the early 1900's. The portrayals of African-American women by each author are contrasted based on specific examples from their two most prominent novels, Native Son by Wright, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. With the intent to explain this divergence, the autobiographies of both authors (Black Boy and Dust Tracks on a Road) are also analyzed. Particular examples from the lives of each author are cited to demonstrate the contrasting lifestyles and experiences that created these disparities, drawing parallels between the authors’ lives and creative endeavors. It becomes apparent that Wright's traumatic experiences involving females and Hurston's identity as a strong, independent and successful Black artist contributed significantly to the ways in which they chose to depict African-American women and what goals they adhered to in reaching and touching a specific audience with the messages contained in their writing.
It is strange that two of the most prominent artists of the Harlem Renaissance could ever disagree as much as or be as different as Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright. Despite the fact that they are the same color and lived during the same time period, they do not have much else in common. On the one hand is Hurston, a female writer who indulges in black art and culture and creates subtle messages throughout her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. On the other hand is Wright, who is a male writer who demonstrates that whites do not like black people, nor will they ever except for when they are in the condition “…America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears.” Hurston was also a less political writer than Wright. When she did write politically, she was very subtle about stating her beliefs.
Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and differences of the voice and themes used with the works “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Hurston and Hughes’ “The Negro Mother”. The importance of these factors directly correlate to how each author came to find their literary inspiration and voice that attributed to their works.
In fact, it is clear to the reader that Huggins makes a concerted effort to bring light to both ethnicities’ perspectives. Huggins even argues that their culture is one and the same, “such a seamless web that it is impossible to calibrate the Negro within it or to ravel him from it” (Huggins, 309). Huggins argument is really brought to life through his use of historical evidence found in influential poetry from the time period. When analyzing why African Americans were having an identity crisis he looked to a common place that African American looked to. Africa was a common identifier among the black community for obvious reasons and was where Authors and Artists looked for inspiration. African American artists adopted the simple black silhouette and angular art found in original African pieces. Authors looked to Africa in their poetry. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, the names of rivers in Africa such as the Euphrates, the Congo and the Nile were all used and then the scene switches to the Mississippi river found in America showing that blacks have “seen”, or experienced both. Huggins looks deeply into Countee Cullen’s Heritage discussing “what is Africa to me?” a common identifier that united black artistry in the Harlem Renaissance, “Africa? A book one thumbs listlessly, till slumber comes” (Countee). The black community craved to be a separate society from white Americans so they were forced to go back to the past to find their heritage, before America and white oppression. Huggins finds an amazing variety of evidence within literature of this time period, exposing the raw feelings and emotion behind this intellectual movement. The connections he makes within these pieces of poetry are accurate and strong, supporting his initial thesis
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The decade between 1920 and 1930 was an extremely influential span of time for the Black culture. During these years Blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means of growth, they hoped to destroy the pervading racism and stereotypes suffocating the African American society and yearned for racial and social integration. Many Black writers spoke out during this span of time with books proving their natural humanity and desire for equality.
In the introduction to The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, David Levering Lewis states the Harlem Renaissance was not a cohesive movement, but a constructed and forced phenomenon that was “institutionally encouraged and directed by leaders of the national civil rights establishment for the paramount purpose of improving race relations.” (Lewis, xiii) However, after researching many influential artists, politicians, and orators of the time, I must disagree. While, yes, the movement of an entire cultural and racial awakening can only be seen as a phenomenon and the movement itself was by no means cohesive, these powerful men and women needed no institutionalized encouragement. Each of their works were their own with diverse ideas and methods, yet somehow, came together to form an interconnected goal within the movement.
“Poetry, like jazz, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives” This was said by Aberjhani in the book Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotation from a Life Made Out of Poetry. Poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was the way that African Americans made sense out of everything, good or bad, that “contextualized” their lives. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Renaissance or New Negro Movement, was a cultural movement among African Americans. It began roughly after the end of World War 1 in 1918. Blacks were considered second class citizens and were treated as such. Frustrated, African Americans moved North to escape Jim Crow laws and for more opportunities. This was known as the Great Migration. They migrated to East St. Louis, Illinois, Chicago 's south side, and Washington, D.C., but another place they migrated to and the main place they focused on in the renaissance is Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance created two goals. “The first was that black authors tried to point out the injustices of racism in American life. The second was to promote a more unified and positive culture among African Americans"(Charles Scribner 's Sons). The Harlem Renaissance is a period
Zora Neale Hurston’s writing embodies the modernism themes of alienation and the reaffirmation of racial and social identity. She has a subjective style of writing in which comes from the inside of the character’s mind and heart, rather than from an external point of view. Hurston addresses the themes of race relations, discrimination, and racial and social identity. At a time when it is not considered beneficial to be “colored,” Hurston steps out of the norm and embraces her racial identity.
The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.
The Roaring Twenties a period when a dramatic social and political change happened. Researching about Harlem was learning about how the people contributed more the music to America’s New Urban Culture. The Harlem Renaissance was a significant movement during the 1920s were African American artists were brought together, explored what it means to be an artist, what it is to create art and literature, as well as what it means to be a proud African American in a community, that influence each to stand-up together in a white-dominant culture, furthermore Harlem was a hotbed of political, cultural and social activity. While researching about the 1920’s, I found out so
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great rebirth for African American people and according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the “Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s.” Wikipedia also indicates that it was also known as the “Negro Movement, named after the 1925 Anthology by Alan Locke.” Blacks from all over America and the Caribbean and flocked to Harlem, New York. Harlem became a sort of “melting pot” for Black America. Writers, artists, poets, musicians and dancers converged there spanning a renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was also one of the most important chapters in the era of African American literature. This literary period gave way to a new type of writing style. This style is known as “creative literature.” Creative literature enabled writers to express their thoughts and feelings about various issues that were of importance to African Americans. These issues include racism, gender and identity, and others that we...
The Harlem Renaissance was an African-American cultural movement that took place in the 1920’s and the 1930’s, in Harlem NYC, where black traditions, black voice, and the black ways of life were celebrated. Alain LeRoy Locke, also known as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”, was a philosopher best known for his writing and support of the movement. Alain LeRoy Locke impacted the Harlem Renaissance by helping the spread of black culture and being declared the father of the movement; the movement has also influenced African-American art and culture into the modern era since the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance can be seen in the work of Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott and in movement groups such as Black Lives Matter.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of cultural explosion. It began in the wake of World War One, flourished until the Great Depression, peaking in Nineteen twenty-eight a year before the beginning of the Depression. The community of Harlem was composed of mainly Negroes (not all of the black population of Harlem was of African descent, so the term African-American would be falsely used in this case) and during this time period they were still considered inferior to the whites. For this reason and other events that took place during the Harlem Renaissance, which I will discuss later in this paper, I have chosen the Athens question, "What does it mean to be a member of a community?"