Harlem Renaissance

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Harlem or Negro Renaissance marked the 1920s and 1930s as a period during which the spirituality and potential of the African-American community was expressed in the most explosive way possible. The writer points out that, centered in the Southern states and with a freedom of expression generally trampled upon, black art expression was simply censored or manifested itself in its raw forms. The migration to the northern metropolis after the First World War was similar and implied the development, in all its forms, of black culture. The paper looks at how this impacted literature (poetry and prose), music (jazz played in the notorious Cotton Club and elsewhere), visual arts (painting), and acting in musicals.

From the Paper:

"Langston Hughes, one of the most representative creators of the Harlem Renaissance, best resumed this period as being a period when "Negro was in vogue" (Langston Hughes in his autobiography "The Big Sea". From Jackson, Caroline. Harlem Renaissance: Pivotal Period in the Development of Afro-American Culture. On the Internet at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.03.x.html). This brief statement meant not only that the Harlem Renaissance was a period of awakening for the African American community, but also the fact that the white population enjoyed Black forms of creation. The rebel period after the First World War, with the Jazz Age and the prohibition, involved openness from the American towards the exotic and what they saw as unusual. In this sense, the African American culture was, for them, something different, as many of the White communities in Northern states had but minor contacts with it in history. They were interested in its forms of manifestation and the numerous patronages of black artists during this time created ripe premises for Black culture to develop and evolve."

More papers on Harlem Renaissance:

• Analytical Essay # 121042 : "Poets of the Harlem Renaissance"
• Analytical Essay # 133568 : "The Harlem Renaissance and the Concept of Negro Art"
• Analytical Essay # 130542 : "Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance"
• Research Paper # 103229 : "Changing Times and the Harlem Renaissance"

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