HARLEM RENAISSANCE AND ITS IMPORTANCE
The Harlem Renaissance is, simply put, a literary movement that was precisely centered on Harlem and grew from the black migration to and the consequent emergence of Harlem as a premier black metropolis in the US. The Harlem Renaissance was thus, an important event during the African American intellectual and cultural life in the 20th century. It tends to touch all the aspects of the African American artistic, literary creativity following the end of World War I and during the Great Depression. Music and theater are also mentioned as a background and local color, to have specifically offered inspiration for poetry and fiction. Further, art has also been discussed but regarding Aaron Douglas and his sometimes associate, Langston Hughes. The Little analysis covered works done by African-American and female artists. The Harlem Renaissance is currently viewed in a broader dimension, which recognizes it as one of the many national movements of its time, which further has a connection with various international developments in both art and culture placing more emphasis specifically on the non-literary aspect of this movement.
To understand the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, it is important to understand its origins, and this will depend on how we perceive the Renaissance’s nature. Considering Renaissance as a literary movement, then it can be said that the then Civic Club Dinner, which took place on March 21, 1924, indicated its emergence. Studies have pointed out that, the Civic Club dinner enhanced the Harlem Renaissance’s literary phase. On the other hand, those who considered Harlem Renaissance as being about musical theater and entertainment, believe that its birth took place, “when Shuffle Along opened at the 63rd Street Musical Hall.” Shuffle Along is a form of musical play that was written by veteran Vaudeville acts-comedians and it helped bring jazz to Broadway. It is worth noting that music was considered a core feature of the African American culture in the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem is deemed to be central to the Harlem Renaissance.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The movement is believed to have had a greater influence on critical writing, musical theater in addition to the visual arts. Additionally, studies have pointed out that the movement also affected politics and social development, in addition to most aspects of the experiences of the African American community, from 1920s-1930s significantly. Harlem Renaissance as a literary movement is believed to have touched every aspect of the creative arts of African Americans. The participants were all determined to explicitly represent the experiences of the African American and further held a strong belief in their racial pride and in the aspect of equality. Further, it has been shown that Harlem Renaissance participants did not share a common political philosophy, social beliefs, aesthetic principles or even artistic style.
Therefore, it can be considered a movement of persons who are considered to be free of any potential overriding manifesto. It laid more emphasis on the African American artistic and intellectual life and as a result of this; it is believed to have enjoyed the full support of all the blacks and of the white intelligentsia. On the other hand, it is said to have generated intense hostility and criticism just as much as it enjoyed support and praise.
It was further considered to be important based on the massive impact it brought to the world of theater, jazz and even in literature. It is evident that most of the plays in the 20th century portrayed negative black stereotypes and this were evident through practices like blackface. On the other hand, Harlem Renaissance represented all of the African-American characters as some of the realistic humans. Therefore, this advancement has been argued to have had a significant impact on all the theaters in America. Harlem Renaissance also has an impact on literature, for instance, a Newspaper like ‘The Voice’ offers a political voice for all the “New Negro Movement." Additionally, it promoted modern African-American literature and all the literature that were overlooked from the 19th century. The Harlem Renaissance has also been argued to have resulted in the emergence of influential African-American writers who have had a great impact on literature including Langston Hughes and even Zora Neale Hurston, who played a critical role in bringing necessary global attention to the writings of African-American.
Jazz is also considered as one of the most important Harlem Renaissance’s musical contribution. For instance, jazz played a critical role regarding breaking down various social boundaries that were existing during this period. Further, it helped in highlighting the piano as one of the most effective instruments that can be easily played by everyone, and not only by wealthy people. Additionally, it played a vital role in making black music and culture significantly attractive to even white people during that time. Therefore, it can be said that it helped break down all the existing boundaries between various faces, especially those related to musical culture and composition.
Harlem Renaissance was also associated with the beginning of what can be considered as mainstream publishing where most of the authors with examples of James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, started publishing novels, newspaper, and even magazines. Further, it is important to note that the Harlem Renaissance, helped to lay a basis for the Civil Right Movement. This enabled a vast majority of blacks to enter into the field of creativity by taking inspiration from the movement.
In conclusion, it is clear that the Harlem Renaissance played a significant role during that time because it enabled African Americans to promote themselves and the culture which they bore, as equal to mainstream American culture. Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance marked a unique moment when white Americans began to recognize the significant intellectual contribution made by Blacks towards culture. On the other, African Americans realized their identity intellectually.
Bibliography
Hutchinson, George. The Harlem Renaissance in black and white . Havard: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Wintz, Cary D., ed. Harlem speaks: a living history of the Harlem Renaissance . Sourcebooks: Mediafusion, 2007.
