Abstract This paper explains that the HarlemRenaissance, also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and The New Negro Movement, began in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City. The author points out that the HarlemRenaissance promoted changes in music, literature, poetry and architecture. The paper relates that these changes started in the black community following the abolition of slavery and were quickened as a consequence of World War I. The author underscores that the HarlemRenaissance can be seen as the African-American cultural response to the great social and cultural changes taking place in America in the early twentieth century under the influence of industrialization and the start of a new mass culture. The paper describes Georgia Douglas Johnson, who wrote poetry and plays as an important player in this literary and cultural movement.
Outline:
I. The History of the HarlemRenaissance A. The way the HarlemRenaissance started
B. How the HarlemRenaissance got its name
II. The changes that were made
A. The change in politics
B. The changes in the arts
III. Georgia Douglas Johnson
A. A brief biography
B. Her influence on the HarlemRenaissance
From the Paper "The Harlem Renaissance was a time of excitement and change for all of those who participated. It took many people to change the things that these people changed. Everything changed from music, art, movies, and politics. Many African- Americans from the southern states moved to Harlem during this time. The African- American community had established a middle class in many cities, with New York City being one. This time of movement can be referred to as the Great Migration. The Great Migration brought thousands of African- Americans to the northern cities like Cleveland, Chicago, and Philadelphia."
Tags: industrialization, mass culture, city arts abolition
Abstract This paper argues that the HarlemRenaissance, or "New Negro Renaissance," of the 1920's, was unarguably one of, if not the greatest flowering of African-American thought and culture in the United States. It suggests that through the arts, African-Americans were able to articulate their opinions on politics, race identity, alienation and the concept of a 'place in society.' The paper discusses various views on the importance of the HarlemRenaissance.
From the Paper "The Harlem Renaissance, despite the turmoil and conflicting strategies, did serve to accomplish a single goal - "the New Negro," a Black Identity that would continue to live on for decades to come. The NAACP still exists as a strong advocate for African-American equality, and Marcus Garvey's underlying message of an America that does not belong to the Negro, would be echoed in Malcolm X's and other black radicals of the 1960's and 70's thoughts. The underlying result of the Harlem Renaissance, though, is the identity of the American Negro, with roots in Africa and in the South, a proud race, that has seen dark days and worse still. Marcus Garvey once exalted, "Up You Mighty Race, Accomplish What You Will!" And the African-American did."
Abstract The paper studies the HarlemRenaissance - the term given to a period in American history where a new focus on the African-American experience emerged. The writer of this paper shows how it was a time when African-American artists began to express their culture and at this time in history there came a new focus on the African-American artist and African-American Art. The writer introduces artist, Aaron Douglas, as someone who emerged from this time period and went on to create works which reflected the HarlemRenaissance. Some of Douglas' works are also discussed.
From the Paper "From this we see how Douglas's paintings represented modern life for African-Americans. Rather than their African life, his paintings reflect the life of African-Americans within America. While the subject of the works was modern, Douglas also incorporated his African culture by his focus on African forms, with his style being described as "flat with hard edges and repetitive designs... heavily influenced by African sculptures, jazz music, dance and geometric forms" (Schomburg Center)."
Abstract This paper will briefly trace the journey of the Black American experience through the music first articulated in the HarlemRenaissance. It begins with the migration of Black Americans from the South to the enclosed environment of a big city and their need to find a voice for themselves, which they did partly through music. It concludes by describing how the HarlemRenaissance was pivotal in American musical history.
From the Paper "Harlem was nothing if not a melting pot of America's black cultures; the northern, the southern, the islands. In the 1930s, while combining all these influences, Harlem musicians set the stage for later Black-influenced musical forms. At the same time, Kramer and Russ argue that it was only by virtue of two things in addition to the migration to Harlem that caused Harlem Renaissance music to be influential across so many decades and so many cultures. One of those things was that mass media, in the form of radio and discography, had arrived on the U.S. market just in time to be useful to the Black artists. And the Black artists, while synthesizing other influences, kept their own identity intact; without this, Kramer and Russ contend, the later forms of Black music, such as rap, would not have been possible (1997)."
Abstract This paper discusses the HarlemRenaissance and how it transformed African-American identity and history, as well as American culture in general. It describes some of the prominent writers who were discovered during the HarlemRenaissance, such as Claude McKay, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey. It also describes some of the artists and musicians who became famous at that time.
From the Paper "Musicians were also a tremendous source of enlightenment during this period. Specifically, during the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, "somewhere around the year 1918, this melting pot of southern blacks deeply rooted in the traditions of spirituals and blues mixed with the more educated northern blacks to create an atmosphere of artistic and intellectual growth never before seen or heard in America." In the case of music which may be the expressive form most frequently associated with experiences of spirit possession, contemplative revere, and wistful or violent nostalgia--our most striking experiences often takes place at moments of half-understood haunted-ness. Therefore, the intersection of, music and social memory constitutes and especially propitious site for cultural analysis, not least in the study of the Harlem Renaissance intellectual life" (Anderson 16). Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker are some of the musicians during the Harlem Renaissance that moved the spirit in most of the African-Americans. "Ragtime was the one artistic production of American music" (Huggins 282). It was originated by colored piano player in the questionable resorts of St. Louis, Memphis and other Mississippi River Town. Ragtime got it first hearing in Chicago and made its way to New York during 1918."
This paper explores the concept of "Negro Art" from the HarlemRenaissance period by analyzing the philosophies of two of that movement's central leaders.
Abstract This paper discusses the philosophies of three leading figures of the HarlemRenaissance--Langston Hughes, George Schuyler and W.E.B. DuBois. The paper describes Langston Hughes' "The Negro and the Racial Mountain" in which he attempts to prove that the desire to not be associated with a specific ethnic class is tantamount to racial self-hatred. The author then explains that George Schuyler in his "The Negro Art Hokum" argues that African-American artists are not some sort of unified bloc and that the imposition of subject matter and style is belittling and racist. Next, the author of the paper applies the conclusions of Hughes and Schuyler to two paintings by Beauford Delaney, a prominent painter of the HarlemRenaissance. The paper concludes that the fairest and most logical approach to the study of "Negro Art" lies somewhere between Langston Hughes and George Schuyler.
From the Paper "Another of Delaney's works that highlights the necessity of forming a compromise between Hughes' and Schuyler's contrasting theories on art is his famous pastel drawing of James Baldwin, the American writer and novelist. Although the two were close friends, Delaney does not attempt to transmit, through his strokes, a sense of his love of and appreciation for Baldwin. Had he wanted to do that, he surely would have created a different portrait than the eerie, anxiety-riddled, and yellow-hued portrait that he actually made."
Abstract This paper discusses how HarlemRenaissance writer, Richard Bruce Nugent's attention to love between men and male beauty demonstrates a degree of sexual dissidence, which black writers were expected to bear. The paper uses A.B. Christa Schwarz's book, "Gay Voices of the HarlemRenaissance" as a critical vehicle to analyze the stories, "Tree with Kerioth Fruit" and "Slender Length of Beauty."
From the Paper "Although Nugent's stories rebel against older Harlem Renaissance author's philosophies, it does not do Nugent's work appropriate justice to claim that their main function was to rebel against the burden of representation. Richard Bruce Nugent, perhaps more than any other member of the Niggeratti, was a well-rounded artist whose writing clearly shows his appreciation for purely aesthetic literature versus writing for distinct social and political purposes. Nugent's focus on using controversial displays of homosexuality in his stories nevertheless qualifies his work as sexually dissident, and it is equally clear that he both rejected the burden of representation and refused to follow the standards set by other African American Renaissance writers or white critics. Nugent's Bible Stories, though they remained unpublished until the long after the Harlem Renaissance, showed that Nugent was a transgressive author. Through displaying strong emotional bonds between men, Nugent shows how easily brotherly love in male dominated world can seem to organically transform into homosexual desires, and fitting these bonds into the framework of Christian mythology, Nugent criticizes the moral code that Harlem Renaissance writers expected him to follow."
Abstract The paper discusses how by the end of the 19th century, Black Americans were freed from slavery, but they were not entitled to progress and equal rights in society. The paper explains that the new educated, proud and urbane African-American was in sharp contrast to the rural, ignorant and humble Negro plantation worker. These Black Americans were unwilling to give up their rights as Americans. The paper describes the HarlemRenaissance and shows how African-Americans defined their black pride and identity in a society dominated by whites. The paper demonstrates how Africa became a symbol of identification for the blacks during this period and Harlem played an important role in the development of ideas, styles, language and culture.
From the Paper "By the end of the 19th century, Black Americans had long been out of the shackles of slavery, but they felt that the majority white population had not accepted them as freemen, entitled to progress and compete for their place in the society. A large black elite, educated, prosperous and professionals to the core had also developed by then. Some recognized themselves to be black but there were also those who believed themselves to be "not-Negro". Famous American writer Jean Toomer, for example, did not want to be recognized as black. Toomer was reluctant to have his work incorporated in Alain Locke's book 'New Negro' and in an interview remarked that "I have not lived as [a Negro], nor do I really know whether there is any colored blood in me or not" (Jean Toomer's Washington and the Politics of Class, 2006]."
Abstract This work is an informative paper about the HarlemRenaissance, its rise, decline, and its fall. It also provides a view into the lives and works of its major proponents. The life of genius trumpeter and crooner Louis Armstrong is discussed in detail, and the lives of other intellectuals and artists are touched upon as well.
From the Paper "This was the period that saw the rise of the creativity of African Americans, which had hitherto not been seen in mainstream America of that time. This is not intended to be a commentary on racism or racist tendencies in this country. Neither is it about identifying stereotypes?positive or negative. But it bears acknowledgement that African Americans have been portrayed as a despondent race bearing all the negatives that come from a cultural, financial and societal malaise. There are two ways out of despondency. Some leaders avow entitlement, for example, the demand for reparations for centuries of slavery. Others take a more conservative approach. The venerable comedian Bill Cosby recently raised eyebrows. He made two speeches, a little more than a month apart, where he castigated members of his own race for not availing themselves of the opportunities offered by this country."
Abstract This paper analyzes the HarlemRenaissance that concentrates on the artistic expression of various African American artists in their search to redefine black identity. The paper explains the long term influence of artistic output.
From the Paper "Harlem Renaissance: Introduction: Two developments led to a mass movement of African Americans to Harlem, New York during the period when more African Americans relocated to this area of New York in what was known as the Great Migration. The first development that led to this migration was the growing dissatisfaction with many African Americans in the Southern states. The second development was the construction of New York's new subway system connecting for the first time Harlem and the city's downtown area A."
Tags: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, James Baldwin, Nella Larson, James A. Porter, racism, prejudice, literature, poetry, oppression, jazz, blues
This paper analyzes the works, "Harlem: A Dream Deferred", "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "Theme for English B", "The Weary Blues", and "As I Grew Older", by Langston Hughes.
Abstract The paper discusses Hughes's work and its relation to the HarlemRenaissance period. It explains how Langston Hughes is one of the premier writers of the HarlemRenaissance period, when black artists came into their own in America. The HarlemRenaissance helped other Americans understand the needs and feelings of blacks and helped create lasting careers for many black artists, including Hughes. Hughes continued to write about the plight of black Americans throughout his life, and his works are still vital and lasting tributes to the struggles of blacks everywhere in their quest for freedom and equality.
From the Paper "The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic movement during the 1920s, which took place in the Harlem district of New York City. By the 1920s, many black Americans who had left their lives in the South and moved north to improve themselves, had settled in Harlem, and the district was well known as a black enclave in the city. Musicians, artists, and writers seemed to congregate in the Harlem area, and it became an community of the black arts, including jazz and blues music, poetry, painting, and just about every art form. There were many different artists associated with the Renaissance, including Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, and Jean Toomer, among many others. The Harlem Renaissance flourished during the 1920s, and brought many people a new understanding the black's subjugation and discrimination. The movement faded with time, especially after the Great Depression began in the 1930s."
Abstract One of the most important movements in literature was the HarlemRenaissance, also called the New Negro Renaissance. Two of its contributors, George S. Schuyler and Langston Hughes, had very different perspectives on the art and literature of the African American. Their debate sparked a dialogue among the HarlemRenaissance community. This paper examines the argument between Schuyler and Hughes, adding the perspectives of other African American writers from the era.
From the Paper "In Hughes' view, the racial mountain stood in the way of this --"the urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible" (1926) Hughes thought that African American poets should not run spiritually away from their race towards whiteness, which he saw Schuyler advocating and which he thought Countee Cullen did to an extent as well."
Abstract African-Americans, along with African-Caribbeans, searched for an identity to call their own. This paper explains how this search was assisted through the creation of two capital cities, Harlem and Paris Noir. These cities enabled blacks to spark the HarlemRenaissance. More than a literary movement and social revolt against racism, this paper explains how the HarlemRenaissance glorified the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression.
From the Paper "What, after all, am I? Am I an American or am I a Negro? Can I be both? Or is it my duty to cease to be a Negro as soon as possible and be an American? Is not my only possible practical aim the subduction of all that is Negro in me to the American? Does my black blood place upon me any more obligation to assert my nationality than German, or Irish or Italian blood would? (Du Bois, ?The Conservation of Races, pg. 5)? These questions preoccupied W. E. B. Du Bois in his quest for his identity, an experience shared by many African-Americans in the early twentieth century. African-Americans began answering their own questions of cultural identity with the eruption of creativity in literature, art, and music following World War I, a time period known as "The New Negro Movement" or the Harlem Renaissance that lasted until about 1930. The Harlem Renaissance celebrated African-American culture. This quest for black identity developed most noticeably in Harlem and then spread to Montmartre, a section of Paris. Black urban migration to Harlem and Montmartre set the scene for a cultural revolution; black intellectuals including Alain Locke and W. E. B. Du Bois promoted the quest for black identity that resulted in the unparalleled success of black artists during the Harlem Renaissance."
Abstract The paper points out that Lewis holds that the HarlemRenaissance collapsed from internal 'decay. The author alleges that the digestion of the HarlemRenaissance as a trend in white society was the fault of proto-consumerist patterns that took hold in New York during the 1920s.
Abstract This is a term paper on Langston Hughes. It includes some basic biographical background, an analysis of his work, and the role he played in the HarlemRenaissance. The author analyzes each of Hughes's different types of works to illustrate the variety of which he was capable.
From the Paper "Langston Hughes is one of America's most well-known and influential black writers. Perhaps, the reason he is so well known is because his works influenced so many people. ?Langston Hughes made a large and unique contribution not only to American literature, but to black American culture and to American humor as well.? (Haskins: ix) Hughes was a leader and had a key role in the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout his forty-five year career, Hughes was a novelist, a reporter, a translator, a playwright, and a short-story writer, although he is mainly recognized as a poet. Hughes began his career because of his unique style. Hughes used speech patterns of a stereotyped black culture along with a jazz/blues rhythm. Hughes? style and political views are mainly related to his experiences growing up."
