The Poetry of Langston Hughes During the Harlem Renaissance

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I. Introduction: The Harlem Renaissance

The village of Harlem, New York was originally established by Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1658. It was named after a Dutch city, “Nieuw Harlem. It sits on a 5.5 square mile area of Manhattan north of 96th Street. The 1830s saw the abandonment of Harlem due to the fact that the farmlands failed to produce. The economic recovery in Harlem began in 1837. It boasted prosperous, fashionable neighborhoods that offered a diverse, rich background provided by several institutions and facilities of the day.

The anticipated plan for Harlem was for it to be known as the “place to be”, but due to the real estate market failure in 1904/1905, white-owned properties were rented to African Americans. A migration from the South and West Indies had allowed Harlem to become the cultural center of urban black America. People migrated in record numbers, but just as the cultural aspects of Harlem prospered other walks of life in Harlem suffered dramatically due to the ever increasing population. Having developed a distinctive culture, Harlem was the epicenter for black writers, artists and intellectuals during the 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance was centered on activities influenced by the experimental styles of literature and music that derived from Europe and America. The topic most focused on mainly dealt with being black in an American society and the experiences it entailed. The actual beginnings of the Harlem Renaissance, most scholars, cannot agree upon. However, what is certain is the most significant cause of the demise of the Harlem Renaissance was the Great Depression amongst other factors.

One may ask: Why are the authors of the Harlem Renaissance so special? They are deemed speci...

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...oration 1992

N: Raphael Comprone, Poetry, Desire, And Fantasy in the Harlem Renaissance (University Press of America 2005)

B: Comprone, Raphael. Poetry, Desire, And Fantasy in the Harlem Renaissance. University Press of America 2005

T: (Comprone 2005)

R: Comprone, Raphael. 2005. Poetry, Desire, And Fantasy in the Harlem Renaissance. University Press of America 2005

N: C. Trotman, Langston Hughes: The Man, His Art, and His Continuing Influence

(Routledge 1995)

B: Trotman, C. Langston Hughes: The Man, His Art, and His Continuing Influence. Routledge 1995

T: (Trotman 1995)

R: Trotman, C. 1995. Langston Hughes: The Man, His Art, and His Continuing Influence. Routledge 1995

Langston Hughes Papers. James Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

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