Brief Summary of the Harlem Renaissance.

1863 Words8 Pages
Harlem Renaissance

Variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then faded in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that mainstream publishers and critics took African American literature seriously and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation at large. Although it was primarily a literary movement, it was closely related to developments in African American music, theater, art, and politics.

BEGINNINGS

The Harlem Renaissance emerged amid social and intellectual upheaval in the African American community in the early…show more content…
Devoted to defining the aesthetic of black literature and art, the Harlem issue featured work by black writers and was edited by black philosopher and literary scholar Alain Leroy Locke. Later that year Locke expanded the special issue into a book, The New Negro, which became the landmark anthology of the age. The second event was the publication of Nigger Heaven (1926) by white novelist Carl Van Vechten. The book was a spectacularly popular exposé of Harlem life. Although the book offended some members of the black community, its coverage of both the elite and the baser sides of Harlem helped create a "Negro vogue" that drew thousands of sophisticated New Yorkers, black and white, to Harlem's exotic and exciting nightlife and stimulated a national market for African American literature and music. Finally, in the autumn of 1926 a group of young black writers produced their own literary magazine, Fire!! With Fire!! a new generation of young writers and artists, including Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman, and Zora Neale Hurston, emerged as an alternative group within the Renaissance.

CHARACTERISTICS

No common literary style or political ideology defined the Harlem Renaissance. What united participants was their sense of taking part in a common endeavor and their commitment to giving artistic expression to the African American experience. Some common themes existed, such as an interest in the roots of the 20th-century African American experience in
Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Poem ' September Cotton Flower ' By Jean Toomer

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    always a beacon of hope amongst doleful situations. From every ending comes a new beginning. The poem, “November Cotton Flower”, written by Jean Toomer, describes (the conditions when slaves were under the Harlem Renaissance) the conditions in which slaves were under during the Harlem Renaissance where there seems to be no prospect for a brighter future for the slaves in the society. Throughout the poem, Toomer develops his theme of hope and desire for a brighter future by exhausting literary devices

    Read More

  • The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacob Essay

    1147 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Impact of an Audience The introductory line of Harriet Jacob’s preface to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, “Reader, be assured this narrative is no fiction”, is short yet serving (Jacobs 224). Although brief in its nature, this statement manages to encompass two major aspects that characterize African-American literature: audience and truth. In all writing, understanding the target audience and how to arrange an argument or essay to appeal to that specific crowd is paramount. However,

    Read More

  • Color Runs Deep

    868 Words  | 4 Pages

    of the past or looking to past. Hughes digs deep into the dirt of African land where his ancestors are buried and shares the history of what he and his people have had to go through. “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1922 during the Harlem Renaissance which was a time of African American development and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. During this day in

    Read More

  • Having Our Say Essay

    9582 Words  | 39 Pages

    Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do

    Read More

  • Dance 101 Study Guide 2 Essay

    7099 Words  | 29 Pages

    1 Lesson 2 Study Guide Broadway The American Musical: At the start of the 20th century, the popular vaudeville shows that crossed the nation became the training ground and inspiration for the birth of the American musical. As the primary location for the professionalization of American performance art, understanding the complicated negotiation of gendered and racial identities on the Broadway stage provides important background to the development of an American identity in concert dance through

    Read More

More about Brief Summary of the Harlem Renaissance.

Open Document