Harlem Renaissance by Huggins Nathan Irvin; Rampersad Arnold;

Author:Huggins, Nathan Irvin; Rampersad, Arnold;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2007-03-08T05:00:00+00:00

Of course, Countee Cullen was an orphan; the parents whom he knew most intimately were not of his “blood.” Here, Cullen seemed to be confounding heredity in the romantic and racial way that was characteristic of those who applauded the primitive natures that they ascribed to Negroes.

Few of the notable Negro poets of the 1920s worked with the pagan-primitive theme as much as Cullen (indeed, it appears in only a few of his poems). The older generation, men like James Weldon Johnson, never touched it. While Langston Hughes was prepared to celebrate the beauty, spontaneity, and creativity of black Americans, his poetry of this period was clearly in the American folk tradition. He never used “primitive” or African characteristics to explain American Negroes. And Claude McKay’s poetry is surprisingly devoid of these themes—surprising since his novels are not. Only “Harlem Dancer” comes close to approving atavism. And the sonnet “Africa” is simply a historical statement of that continent’s grandeur which is no longer:

Cradle of Power! Yet all things were in vain!

Honor and Glory, Arrogance and Fame!

They went. The darkness swallowed thee again.

Thou art the harlot, now thy time is done,

Of all the mighty nations of the sun.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.