Introduction
Harlem Renaissance is, undoubtedly, a phenomenon unmatched in the strength of its impact both on the contemporary culture of the 1920s and 1930s, but also on the very identity of all African-Americans to this day. It is hard to underestimate the energy that Harlem radiated at the turn of the century – given the fact that its influence echoed across numerous black communities throughout the country. With its significance reaching its peak in the 20s, existing as a cultural phenomenon for just around three decades, Harlem managed to achieve a status that made it much more than another New York borough. It was the embodiment of the so-called New Negro, a symbol of promise of a new and bright future for all African-Americans. Later, Harlem came to surpass this idea as well – remaining a symbol of Black power in a myriad of aspects – whether political, cultural, economic, and even spiritual, the notion that is of particular interest to this research.
Purpose, Specificity of Literature Selected, and Structure
The borough of Harlem is a known symbol for strong black self-consciousness, radical political movements, garish night life and endless creative expression. The history of Harlem is very multifaceted, and Harlem Renaissance is the most complex phenomenon of it all. Cultural subjects as poeticised as Harlem Renaissance tend to be obscured in the literature written by those aiming to inspire rather than illuminate. The following literature review attempted to synthetize a realistic image of Harlem Renaissance, which was the purpose of this study. It was crucial to select the titles that
- both glorified Harlem and criticized it;
- covered the greatest variety of aspects of the lives of Harlemites;
- analyzed it against the historical background of the time and in a retrospective.
The structure of the present literature review partly mirrors chronological flow of events because it attempts to unfold the moving forces behind its inception, prominence, and subsequent international impact. This is best accomplished when studying a phenomenon in accordance with chronological order; moreover, most studies follow this structure as well.
Harlem’s Historical Roots and Sociopolitical Climate
The point of departure of the discussion is set in the times of Emancipation Proclamation and proceeds by carefully examining the tendencies that shaped the nature of black people of the era. “Measuring Harlem” by Michael Soto serves as a comprehensive guide into the jazz age, with the author elucidating societal changes along with the historical events that stimulated them. The method that is employed in this work is highly analytical; with step-by-step evaluations of a wide array of aspects that led or directly pertained to the cultural phenomenon that is known as the Harlem Renaissance. The term itself is analyzed in retrospective of a several authors’ works, such as Brent Hayes Edwards or John L. Jackson Jr – and deemed “overburdened” (Soto 15). The author touches upon economical reasons for the inception of Harlem, which are explained in detail along with the present-day concepts of black self-identification and its origins in the Jazz Age.
The work is fantastic in a sense that it gives a unique perspective into the Harlem Renaissance by tying it to U.S. census and the black experience. In a strict chronological order, the author reviews core examples of literature of Harlem Renaissance, identifying quintessential concepts expressed in these works and viewing them from the perspective of contemporaries. Via structured analysis that covers the subject from multiple points of perspective, Soto manages to get unbiased view on not only the cultural, but also sociological aspects of the era.
A compelling work of another author, “the Harlem Renaissance” by Nathan Irvin Huggins, is qualified for both an accurate historical account of the core events and a well-written piece of literature. Perhaps, in this work, the reader sees the historical figures of Harlem Renaissance from a more one-sided, strongly opinionated perspective rather than in the previous title. W. E. B. DuBois is compared with James Weldon Johnson, who were a part of the first wave of black intellectuals that came to Harlem to be heard. In contrast to DuBois, Marcus Garvey was known for his simplistic rendering of ideas that nevertheless captured the public’s attention, making him “a spirit moving the men’s souls to a dream” (Huggins 45). This analytical strategy employed by Huggins in which he observes the phenomenon of black leaders from different points of view, including opposed contemporary opinions, is eternally beneficial for achieving an objective perception of a historical case.
The leaders, despite being majorly successful, were deemed to be useless by Huggins – which is characteristic of him, as his work is highly critical of Harlem Renaissance in its entirety. According to Huggins, the leaders were unable to commit a relevant social change, as they remained mostly theoretical and uninvolved in the district work that “might have given them political leverage” (63). This level of detachment of the movement’s proponents from their people was one of the greatest weaknesses of the New Negro era. In spite of this, Harlem still radiated a spirit of opportunity and new beginnings, and it was because of the older generation of notable people that Harlem’s intellectual and bohemian community bloomed.
Cultural Significance and Role of Harlem Renaissance
Later on, perhaps, the most prolific aspect of Harlem Renaissance should be expounded upon: its literary heritage. None of the sources discussed previously go into the emotional depth exhibited by “the Aphrodite’s Daughters: Three Modernist Poets of Harlem Renaissance” by Maureen Honey, which covers the lives and creative journeys of three prolific women poets. Addressing the matter of notable literature of the age directly in enriches the narrative in a number of ways. Firstly, it demonstrates the fact that Harlem was an inclusive society: women voices were heard and moreover, celebrated. Secondly, the poems themselves serve as the greatest illustrations of the Harlem, and more importantly, the feelings that this place incited in its residents. As spoken in Angelina Grimke’s well-known lines, “a spirit of daring delight compels me to wander this rollicking night”, Harlem in the 1920s actually had an intoxicating quality (Honey 6). Such an emotional account can be an invaluable contribution to the research, especially in the light of deeply analytical sociological studies discussed earlier.
Global Impact
After experiencing a phenomenon overtly via inspecting various aspects of cultural, political, social, and economical lives of Harlem, it would be helpful to gain a perspective of its cultural significance as it reflected through time and space. This task is somehow accomplished in an article by Bailey and Rosenberg, titled “Reading twentieth century urban black cultural movements through popular periodicals” which draws comparisons between Harlem in the 20s and South Africa’s Sophiatown in the 50s.
Here one encounters the most well-known figure of Harlem Renaissance – its greatest ambassador and proponent, Langston Hughes. For it was him, who played a major part in spreading the influence of Harlem Renaissance abroad. Interestingly enough, his poems traversed the Atlantic not long before Hughes himself did – finding their first international audience in Germany (Wipplinger 170). This particular moment can serve as an ignition point for the spread of Harlem’s cultural heritage and its innovative ideas about the new black identity, in particular. An outstanding demonstration of this would be the case of Johannesburg’s Sophiatown, whose periodical Drum, following the blueprint of action pioneered by the Crisis, allowed the oppressed black people to find a voice (Bailey and Rosenberg 67). In a sense, literature and music, both of which Langston Hughes embodied, served as a primary moving force behind the sociopolitical changes that took place in Harlem and in other black communities within the boundaries of its cultural influence.
Conclusion
In essence, a comprehensive portrait of an era can only be compiled from a number of sources, with each one covering a specific dimension characteristic of the life of an era under discussion. A holistic image of Harlem in the times of its cultural uprising was obtained. Several sources, like Soto’s and Huggins’, exhibited wholesome analysis of social and political tendencies dominant in Harlem at the time; the reciprocal connections that they made with culture, in the form of literature and jazz, were also illuminated. The literary legacy, published in the crucial periodicals like the Crisis, proved to be defining voices of the age that, in their turn, transformed not only Harlem, but spread internationally. Thus, a well-rounded characteristic of the movement was found, however, there exists a gap in knowledge about the phenomenon – and that is, the lack of analytical approach in the literature on the topic. An advised subject for further study would be tracing Harlem Renaissance’s influence into the present day.
Works Cited
Bailey, Julius & Rosenberg, Scott. “Reading twentieth century urban black cultural movements through popular periodicals: a case study of the Harlem Renaissance and South Africa’s Sophiatown”. Safundi, vol. 17, no. 1, 2016, pp. 63-86. doi: 10.1080/17533171.2015.1112938
Honey, Maureen. Aphrodite’s Daughters: Three Modernist Poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Rutgers University Press, 2016.
Huggins, Nathan. Harlem Renaissance. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Soto, Michael. Measuring the Harlem Renaissance: the U.S. census, African American identity, and literary form. University of Massachusetts Press, 2016.
Wipplinger, Jonathan. The Jazz Republic: Music, Race, and American culture in Weimar Germany. University of Michigan Press, 2017.