...The Harlem Renaissance's Impact on American Literature The Harlem Renaissance also known as the "New Negro Movement," was a cultural movement that spanned in the 1920's to the mid 1930's. It was a time in history that displayed the unique culture of African American expression, through literature, art, music, and dance. This African American culture grew out of Harlem, New York and symbolized freedom from the oppression of slavery. It was described as the spiritual coming of age in which African Americans had a chance to express their creativity. The Harlem Renaissance is noted as being a literary movement were African Americans could celebrate their heritage and reveal the truth about their life and the first time their literature was taken seriously by critics and publishers. The birth of the Harlem Renaissance came out of Harlem, New York in the early 1920's, "it was a time for a cultural celebration. African Americans had endured centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition." (U.S History, 2008) It is described as racial pride and an intense desire for equality. It represented a time by the end of the war in 1919 where African Americans was going to be much more aggressive than their prewar brothers. Harlem was considered the capital of the black world, because it attracted thousands of blacks from the South and the West indies. It provided economic and education for African American artist. In Harlem, people demanded respect from those who continued to keep racist...
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
...Transformations of the 1920s By: Emma Hudson The 1920s catapulted us into modern society. It brought great changes in music, art, science, and literature. There was a dark side to this time period such as bootlegging, racism and violence in the workplace, but fashion, jazz, and Women’s Suffrage brought progress to the nation. A lot of today’s growth is due to the 1920s and we don’t even know it. The 1920s brought a new mentality into the world, especially for women. On August 18, 1920 women won the right to vote and in this same time period the number of working women increased by 25%. Women became teachers, nurses, social workers and librarians. “The women of this generation grew up when the advertising industry was rapidly...
Words: 1356 - Pages: 6
...Modern Art or Modernism is the loose term given to the succession of styles and movements in art and architecture which dominated Western culture from 19th Century up until the 1960’s. Movements associated with Modern art include Impressionism, Cubism, Bauhaus, Surrealism, Futurism, Pop Art and Op Art. Modern Art rejects the past as a model for the art of the present and is characterized by constant innovation. Modern Art grew out of the Impressionist's rejection of the 'imitation of life' school of art. Their emphasis on the act of painting, on the paint itself, can be seen in the Expressionist and Cubist art of the turn-of-the-century. Modern art was also often driven by various social and political agendas. These were often utopian, and modernism was in general associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress. From the 1970’s artists and movements began to react against Modernism and post-modernism was formed. Some different types of the movements in art are: abstract, action art, American realism, architecture, art deco, and art nouveau, Asian, Bauhaus, black and white, celebrity, cityscape, colorful, comic book art, conceptual art, contemporary art, cubism, cuisine, exclusive, expressionism, fauvism, figurative, floral, framed prints, Modern art and many more. There were a lot of movements in the art industry ever since the beginning of Modern art which started in the 19th Century. Surrealism is a style of art and literature developed principally...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...Twenties, Jazz Age, and the Golden Years were names synonymous for the 1920’s. The economic boom after World War 1 liberated the American people resulting in an increase in population who were happy and worry-free. This inspired artists and writers to be creative. Some stories helped people dream and conquer all but others showed the hardships people faced. The Algonquin Round Table Journalists, editors, actors, and press agents met on a regular basis at the Algonquin Hotel in New York began meeting in June 1919 and continued fro eight years. They contributed to hit plays, bestselling books, and popular newspaper columns. They shared admiration for each other’s work. These people had very high standards and they were very outspoken, outrageous, and they often quoted one each other. This group began to fade away as The Great Depression neared. They were a great example of American artists F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote several stories with The Great Gatsby being his most famous work. This story helped inspire people to believe that they could dream anything and achieve it. Fitzgerald’s stories were mainly about people becoming very successful in the social and financial worlds, but they did not share the same prosperity and the morals. He also wrote This Side of Paradise. Unfortunately, not all books were happy and motivating. Several writers wrote about the hardships people faced in the 1920’s. In Alain Locke’s The New Negro, Locke wrote about the hopeless look...
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
...A critical time of cultural renewal in American history is the Harlem Renaissance, a time between the 1920’s and 1930’s in which African Americans became aware of their identities and embraced their heritage through a series of positive images through arts and culture. In the early 20th century, African Americans began moving North in order to escape the economically unstable South in a moment in history called the Great Migration. Through this, many African Americans fled to large cities like New York City and Chicago where it was urbanized and they had more opportunities for careers. In this time of renewal, African Americans rejected their status of the time and stereotype that came along with it, taking on the term “New Negro”, which represented...
Words: 812 - Pages: 4
...In the 1920’s there was a cultural movement that came about known as the Harlem Renaissance, which was also known as The New Negro Movement, named after Alain Locke in 1925 for his literature work. It is called the Harlem Renaissance due to the fact that it was the biggest district affected in the New African-American cultural expression which was also a part of the movement. Black francophone writers that originated from Africa and different parts of the Caribbean that lived in Paris played a big role in The Harlem Renaissance. Harlem was mainly a black neighborhood which attracted a wide variety of literary writers. Even though racism still was present in Harlem, the community was too diverse for cultural authority, thus making it an ideal area for cultural experiment. Three important things that allowed the Harlem Renaissance to happen so successfully were It was the most famous city situated in the western hemisphere known for publishing, word renowned ports, and the most financial and cultural capital in the U.S. African art used to portray stories also came about from the Harlem Renaissance due to an artist of the 20th century by the name of Pablo Picasso. Black history was first celebrated during the Harlem Renaissance in 1928. Langston Hughes was the most famous writer that was a part of this renaissance. He connected with his people by discussing the needs, desires and beauty of the community. Langston argued that the renaissance in the 1920’s were too racist and...
Words: 290 - Pages: 2
...Harlem Renaissance A literary period knowns as the Harlem Renaissance in early 1920’s began, allowing and uplifting black artists and authors a voice in the societies across America. The artists of this era “Rejected the notion of the racial struggle as the sole mission of the black elite. Instead, this group was dedicated to literature and the arts as paths to uplift the black race,” (The Queen of the Harlem Renaissance 52). One of the prominent authors of this time was Zora Neale Hurston who approached the theme of this era in a vastly different way than her peers, but her goal was the same: “to uphold and promote the literary work of black people” (rollins). Hurston tried to link the cultural breach between whites and blacks while her peers moved to obtain equality between both races. The Harlem Renaissance is commonly thought to have begun in the 1920’s, ending in the late 1930’s (Aberjhani xviii), just before the Great Depression. The movement have been said to be an expansion of “a unique awakening of mind and spirit, of race consciousness and artistic advancement” (Aberjhani xviii). Additionally, this was the time where black people discovered their own forms of literature and other forms of art and became more aware of themselves as. Numerous genres came out of the Harlem Renaissance containing the musical genres Jazz, Ragtime and the Blues; as well as black literature journalism, visual arts and theater (Aberjhani xviii). Writers of this era were “motivated to write about...
Words: 932 - Pages: 4
...Blacks World Spotlight: on the International Stage in the 1920s During World War I the United States bought nearly 200,000 African-American soldiers to France. Majority of the African American soldiers were from the southern region of the United States of America. Many Blacks stayed after the war, generating a permanent Black population in France. The ending of the First World War also marked the beginning of the New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance in the United States. During this time African Americans emerged as talented, creative intellectuals leaving their footprint on 1920s America. While much focus of the New Negro Movement is centered in the United States, it indeed was an international affair. The purpose of this research is to examine how a number of African Americans launched their creative debut from the international stage of Paris, France. Additional focus will center on black artists turning to Africa as a source and facture in the art. Last but not least, the effort of Author Schomburg to collect and house international works about blacks will be addressed. Utterly intrigued by African Americans and thoroughly consumed with their talents, the French displayed a respect for Blacks unseen in the United States. While a great number of African-American soldiers remain in Paris, many journeyed back to the United States. Those soldiers certainly were not greeted by change. The United States remained the same racially tensed nation. If there was any change, it...
Words: 3126 - Pages: 13
...Analyzing the Harlem Renaissance Spahne J. Jenkins Prof. Bryant August 3, 2010 Comp 1302 The Harlem Renaissance, (1920’s – mid 1930’s) was a movement that created black cultural acknowledgement for artist. In Harlem, a neighborhood in the city of New York, Alain Locke became the center of this movement for black artist. Locke transformed the way of thinking for black artists during The Harlem Renaissance, not only opened the doors for other black writers, it made away for blacks in the now generation, in comparison with the civil rights movement. The Harlem Renaissance started the beginning of the post World War II part of the Civil Rights movement. These transitions created forward movement for black artist literature. In studying the African American culture, the 1920’s was a time when blacks and white Americans discovered the uniqueness of black art, music and literature. Many people that spoke French were black writers from African and Caribbean colonies. Also they lived in Paris and were influenced by the Renaissance, so they built they’re confidence and continued working harder on their gift. Contributing factors before the Harlem Renaissance was The Great Migration of African Americans to the northern parts of the U. S. These cities included: Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, which this movement forced employers to create jobs for lots of people. The breakthrough of the Harlem Renaissance actually began in the late 1917. Plays written by white...
Words: 430 - Pages: 2
...During the 1920’s there was a great rise in popularity of African American Culture. As African Americans participated in the Great Migration, they set goals for themselves as they entered a new country and culture. Harlem was the town that the African Americans all migrated to, there they felt safe because it was the world's largest black urban community. Soon Harlem became overcrowded and began suffering from poverty. This was the cause of the Harlem Renaissance, which was a literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American Culture. There were multiple associations such as the NAACP and the UNIA created during the Harlem Renaissance to help protect and prevent violence from breaking out. The NAACP or the National Association...
Words: 375 - Pages: 2
...shifted from rather an everyday outlet or enjoyment to that of a scholarly, more objectified and purposeless craft. He starts his overview explaining how F.O. Matthiessen is left having “discovered a renaissance for American Literature that did not include poets,” (Harrington P.496) besides a sole exclusion: Walt Whitman. Poetry has always hung on the precipice of whether being literature or not; swayed, back and forth, by the changing movements of the decades. I’ve come to understand after reading Harrington that poetry is constantly being redefined and reorganized by its place in society and its critics. Yet generally over the last several or more decades its’ art has remained secular from what is knows as ‘American Literature’. Harrington believes “the institutional history of poetry in the US suggests both the importance and the genealogy of the literary- critical split between American poetry and American literature,” (Harrington P. 496.). He notes that poetry used to play a crucial role in cultural conflicts and almost digesting the current day-to-day. He then goes on to argue in which I agree, that by now holding aside poetry as something less in turn stripping its influence on us, literature to us is a contradictory thing. Not including poetry in literature for the people reading it is silly for the two are so intertwined. So much fiction has taken from or found inspiration from poetry. Harrington states this notion, “As a social form, poetry is not simply a value-neutral...
Words: 1601 - Pages: 7
...The 1920s is commonly regarded at the ‘roaring 20s’ around the world, but this is especially true for Berlin, Germany. This was the period where Berlin became known as an advanced society after the Greater Berlin Act, which expanded the size of the capital. Following this act, Berlin became the third largest municipality in the world. On top of that, it became popular for leadership amongst multiple subjects including science, humanities, music, film, education, government, diplomacy, industries and military. The 1920s was the real beginning of Berlin as a major city. From 1815 - 1881, Berlin was part of the Province of Brandenburg, and in 1881, it became a separated district called Stadtkreis Berlin. It wasn’t until April 27, 1920 that the Greater Berlin Act was passed;...
Words: 1388 - Pages: 6
...The 1920s in theory was a time that revamp the atmosphere of America. Hollywood was a buzzing, the radio brought the country together with fast delivery of news, and the jazz age took over the scene. But with the good came the bad. The bad has been overlooked in history due to people's love of the idea of the twenties. One of the most known and loved pieces of literature that takes place during the 1920’s The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows both the good and the bad in relation to the twenties. Although 1920’s have been associated with prosperity and luxurious it was truly has a time of hardship and pain because it was a time of social unrest, mobster and bootlegger ran the cities, and money became such a promate role it start to...
Words: 1395 - Pages: 6
...The Harlem Renaissance The end of World War I set up conditions for a new culture to emerge. Due to the abundance of jobs the war created, many African-Americans moved to the northern cities. In fact, so many of them moved up north, they created strong African-American communities, including Harlem in New York City. During the 1920’s, Harlem became the Mecca of Black culture and was home to many talented individuals from all fields. Roughly lasting from the end of World War I to the stock market crash in 1929, the Harlem Renaissance was the time period in which black literature was first taken seriously and published by mainstream companies. Even though the Harlem Renaissance focused mainly on literature, it is also strongly related to the advances in African-American music, art and politics of the 1920’s. Although there were many themes associated with the works of the Harlem Renaissance, the four topics of interest that were focused on were, a longing for Africa, the beauty of African-Americans, the racism of the time and demonstrating that they too experienced universal concepts. Many African-Americans of the time began wondering about their ancestral past, prior to slavery, and looked to Africa for inspiration. Many African-Americans saw Africa as their original homeland and a place where blacks where not discriminated and oppressed. In the poem “Heritage,” Countie Cullen wrote “What is Africa to Me?,” a common question African-Americans were asking at the time. He also...
Words: 1732 - Pages: 7
...understand the music of the Harlem Renaissance and the Pop Art periods. The social conditions that influenced the art and the characteristics of the artists’ style were in many ways similar; however, with advancing technology, they had differing struggles to overcome. The Harlem Renaissance was sparked by the Great Migration from 1919 – 1926 in which African Americans began moving to northern cities to find employment and a better way of life. The musicians of this era were very influential in renewing the culture and history of the United States. Jazz, race, and class divided Harlem and New York cities. Some historians have said the best way to understand the Harlem Renaissance is by understanding the music (http://historyoftheharlemrenaissance.weebly.com/index.html; www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/Harlem-Renaissance-1920s.html). With the roots of jazz coming from slave songs, it is truly an African-American invention. This newly formed music utilized the dissonant “blue” note. This modification to the to the standard major scale allowed the musician to play the note flat; usually the third, fifth, or seventh note of the scale. Music critic Sidney Finkelstein stated, “It expresses the hope and struggle for freedom, the vitality which enables a people to wrest joy out of misery and to assert the triumph of human beings over the obstacles that would grind them down.” ("MindEdge," 2014) Jazz was the sound of the 1920’s; with the Roaring Twenties, individuality blossomed along...
Words: 2036 - Pages: 9
