The Harlem Renaissance

“Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself.”

A movement of African-American culture in literature, dance, music, and art during 1919 – mid-1930s. Resulted from the Great Migration following the First World War, in when many African-Americans moved to Northern urban cities.

Originated in Harlem, New York City

With Harlem as its center, the Renaissance was an upsurge of new racial attitudes and ideals and an artistic and political awakening for African Americans. The Harlem writers and artists were in quest of new forms, images, and techniques. They were skeptical and disillusioned by the current way of life around them. They viewed art as a way to show their struggle against oppression.

Increased contact between African Americans and white Americans in the workplace and on city streets forced a new awareness of the disparity between the promise of the American dream and reality. African American soldiers who served in World War I were angered by the prejudice they often encountered back at home, compared to the acceptance they had found in Europe. There were two different ways of thinking that came out of the Harlem Renaissance…

The first of these schools of thought was represented by W. E. B The first of these schools of thought was represented by W.E.B. DuBois and James Weldon Johnson. They saw the arts as an area where talented and culturally privileged African Americans could lead their race’s fight for equality. Works of art inspired by the artists’ racial heritage & experiences would prove the beauty of the race and its contributions to American culture. These artistic successes could foster pride among all African-Americans and prove their educated class to be the equal of the white educated class.

The other ideology was represented by artists such as Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. They felt the need to present the ordinary African-American person objectively as an individual simply living in the flesh-and-blood world. This perspective argued against showing only “cultured” and “high class” African-Americans who mirrored the standards of white society. This school of thought advocated artists who chose to pursue art for its own sake.

Literature Harlem Renaissance was a primarily literary movement. This was the first time publishers and critics took African-American writing seriously. By Langston Hughes By Zora N. Hurston

Literature Related back to African-American’s roots in Africa. Included poetry, novels, and magazines. Described the reality of being racially discriminated against. By Sherwood Anderson

Dance Swing dance became very popular in the Harlem Renaissance. Popular dance clubs: the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club.

The Cotton Club Savoy Ballroom

Music Jazz and Blues became very popular. The Apollo Theatre was a venue where many musicians started their careers, including: Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughn Billie Holiday

Jelly Roll Morton: Ragtime Pianist Louis Armstrong: Jazz Trumpeter and Singer Duke Ellington: Jazz Composer, Pianist, and Bandleader

Art Art at this time reflected African American daily life from many different perspectives. Artists made bold, stylized portraits of African American people. Some art inspired by jazz music of the time Jeunesse by Palmer Hayden

 The Library by Jacob Lawrence

Drama Plays and shows rejected African American stereotypes by having black actors convey complex human emotions.

The Harlem Renaissance incorporated all aspects of African American culture in its literature and several themes emerged…

Themes in Art, Music and Literature: Effort to Recapture the African-American Past Rural Southern Roots African-American Urban Experience and Racism Disillusionment and Exclusion Use of Black Music & Folklore as an Inspiration for Poetry, Short Stories, and Novels Through all these themes Harlem Renaissance writers were determined to express the African-American experience in all its variety and complexity as realistically as possible.