Modernism In Langston Hughes And The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a period in American history, which occurred in the 1920s in Harlem, New York. The cultural movement was an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their heritage through intellectual and artistic works. Langston Hughes, a famous poet, was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. One notable piece of literature by Hughes is “Dream Deferred”. However, the discussion of African American culture isn’t limited to the 1920s. Paul Laurence Dunbar showed the potential struggles of being African American in his poem “We Wear the Mask”, written fifty-five years prior to “Dream Deferred”. Both poems share similar tones and themes. “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes can serve as a sequel to “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar through displaying a cause and effect relationship which highlights the strength of neglect and disguises.

The Harlem Renaissance was a the time that took place between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this time Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, musicians and artist. This was the most influential movement for African Americans. Many people in the African American literary movement were either descends from slaves or were part of the great migration out of the South. The Harlem Renaissance gave black people the opportunity to become something important.

Langston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave. Therefore, the whole theme about this poem is everything is a mystery and a question and it will take years to potentially to find an answer.

So, they decided to pack up and head North taking their musical traditions and talents with them. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the greatest cultural movements that took place in the 1920’s. During this period of the time the African American culture began to take shape and flourish like never before. The Harlem Renaissance was a time when African American authors, poets, writers, musicians and photographers began to make their mark in big northern cities such as Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit and New York City.

Langston Hughes was first recognized as an important literary figure during the 1920s, a period known as the "Harlem Renaissance" because of the number of emerging black writers. Du Bose Heyward wrote in the New York Herald Tribune in 1926: "Langston Hughes, although only twenty-four years old, is already conspicuous in the group of Negro intellectuals who are dignifying Harlem with a genuine art life. . . . It is, however, as an individual poet, not as a member of a new and interesting literary group, or as a spokesman for a race that Langston Hughes must stand or fall. . . . Always intensely subjective, passionate, keenly sensitive to beauty and possessed of an unfaltering musical sense, Langston Hughes has given us a 'first book ' that

The Impact of the Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic and cultural movement during the 1920s and the 1930s. It was sparked by a migration of nearly one million African-Americans who moved to the prospering north to escape the heavy racism in the south and to partake in a better future with better tolerance. Magazines and newspapers owned by African-Americans flourished, poets and music artists rose to their feet. An inspiration swept the people up and gave them confidence.

Dhrumi Patel Period:4 Mrs.Blanke Mrs.Hnasko English Lit IV A Research Paper Langston Hughes Influence on the Harlem Renaissance “Democracy” by Langston Hughes was written during the Harlem Renaissance and left a great impact on it. It helped people stay true to their traditions and made people want to fight for their equality. His real name was James Mercer Langston Hughes and was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents got a divorce when he was a young child.

The Harlem Renaissance was an awakening of African American culture which began to spread and influence society in areas including music, art and poetry. The moment gained popularity and for the first time, African American culture was being celebrated in American society, which led to the concept of the “New Negro”. (Doc. 2 Harlem Renaissance) Jazz music and Louis Armstrong, a famous African American jazz artist, began gaining popularity across the United states and became a big part of the American culture (Doc 3. Lois Armstrong’s Trumpet).The Harlem Renaissance was also remembered for bringing powerful poetry to literacy, including the great work of Langston Hughes (Doc 4.

The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great cultural growth in the black community. It is accepted that it started in 1918 and lasted throughout the 1930s. Though named the ‘Harlem’ Renaissance, it was a country-wide phenomenon of pride and development among black Americans, the likes of which had never existed in such grand scale. Among the varying political actions and movements for equality, a surge of new art appeared: musical, visual, and even theatre. With said surge, many of the most well-known black authors, poets, musicians and actors rose to prevalence including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, and Eulalie Spence.

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that reflected the culture of African Americans in an artistic way during the 1920’s and the 30’s. Many African Americans who participated in this movement showed a different side of the “Negro Life,” and rejected the stereotypes that were forced on themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was full of artists, musicians, and writers who wrote about their thoughts, especially on discrimination towards blacks, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential and exciting movement, and influenced others to fight for what they want and believed in. The Harlem Renaissance was the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

During the 1920’s while segregation existed between blacks and whites, The Harlem Renaissance also known as the New Negro Movement developed in Harlem New York City. The Harlem Renaissance allowed was very benficial to African Americans because it allowed them to express themeselves. ‘Harlem gave African American people a new sense of their own beauty and power” (Haskins,2). During the harlem Renassance African AMericans expressed themselves through different types of art such as music, poetry, dance,and paintings.

There were several different theme changes in literature during the late 1800’s and has continued through current day. The different themes used to describe the type of literature such as: Romanticism, Imagism, Modernism and Confessional poetry. There were many different styles of writing introduced during the time frame of when World War I began in 1865 and to the end of World War II. Romanticism and Naturalism were of the few first forms of American literature that emphasized originality and freedom of self-expression that began in the ending of the eighteenth century. America experienced some drastic changes in geographic areas, industrially and socially which was expressed thoroughly in literature.

The Harlem Renaissance For African Americans during the early 1900’s was a scary place. . People were filled with racism and hate towards those who are black. Ever thought of how much power a group of people have if they all unite for a similar purpose? The Harlem Renaissance shows exactly that.

Langston Hughes poems “Harlem” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are two poems that have a deeper meaning than a reader may notice. Hughes 's poem “Harlem” incorporates the use of similes to make a reader focus on the point Hughes is trying to make. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes shows how close he was to the rivers on a personal level. With those two main focuses highlighted throughout each poem, it creates an intriguing idea for a reader to comprehend. In these particular poems, Hughes’s use of an allusion, imagery, and symbolism in each poem paints a clear picture of what Hughes wants a reader to realize.

Langston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.