AMERICAN LITERATURE THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE 1 Information background During 1920s, Harlem community sparkled with passion and creativity + Black American jazz swept the US by storm
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE Information background - During 1920s, Harlem community sparkled with passion and creativity + Black American jazz swept the US by storm Nguyễn Như Phương Đài Jazz musicians and composers became stars beloved across the US and overseas + Black spirituals became appriciated as uniquely beautiful religious music + Ethel Waters triumphed on the stage + Black American dance and art flourished with music and drama Nguyễn Như Phương Đài Ethel Waters Characteristics - Rich variety of talent - Many visions coexisted Nguyễn Như Phương Đài There are two trends: + Poet should not allow race to dictate the subject matter and style of a poem + “Back to Africa” Nguyễn Như Phương Đài Jean Toomer (1894-1967) a General information - African- American fiction writer and poet Nguyễn Như Phương Đài b Conception of life and writing - Envisioned an American identity that would transcend race Style: - Employed poetic traditions of ryhme and meter - Did not seek out new “black” form for poetry Nguyễn Như Phương Đài c Works Cane (1923) - Ambitious and innovative - Incorporates poems, prose vignettes, stories, and autobiographical notes Nguyễn Như Phương Đài Richard Wright (1908-1960) a General information - Born in a poor sharecropping family - The first African- American novel list to reach a general audiences Nguyễn Như Phương Đài - 1930s- joined the Communist Party - 1940s – anti-Communist b Conception of life and writing - Inspired by the social criticism and realism - Outspoken writing Nguyễn Như Phương Đài c Works Black boy (1945) - His autobiography - One of his best books Uncle’s Tom children (1938) - Short stories Native son (1940) - Powerful and telentless His novel was a necessary and overdue expression of the racial inequality Nguyễn Như Phương Đài Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960) a General information - Born in a small town, Florida - Known as one of the light of the Harlem Renaissance Nguyễn Như Phương Đài b Style of writing - Colorful languages - Sparkled with comic – or tragic stories from the AfricanAmerican oral tradition Nguyễn Như Phương Đài c Works Mules and man (1935) The most engaging, genuine, and skillfully written book in the field of folklore Tell my horse (1938) Their eyes was watching God (1937) - Vivid evokes the lives of African-American working in the rural South Nguyễn Như Phương Đài LITERARY CURRENTS: THE FUGITIVES AND NEW CRITICISM Background information - From the Civil War – 20th century - The southern US: + political and economic backwater ridden + racism and superstition + rich folkways + strong senses of pride and tradition Nguyễn Như Phương Đài a The Fugitives: - were a group of poets and literary scholars who came together at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, around 1920 Nguyễn Như Phương Đài - The most significant 20th century regional literary movement - Led by John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate and Robert Penn Warren Nguyễn Như Phương Đài * Characteristics - Reject “northern” urban, commercial values - Call for a return to the land and to American tradions - Associated with New Criticism Nguyễn Như Phương Đài