African American Literature:Harlem Renaissance,Modernism,Realism and Naturalism - Essay Example

The Number 3 April African American Literature Essay African American Literature of the first half of the previous century is represented by a number of prolific and talented writers who focused on the issues of the black population in the United States. While the biggest problem was racial tensions and the establishment of a black identity, African American authors managed to create a vast panorama of black people relationships, domestic life, values, attitudes, aspirations, and economic hardships. United within Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, black authors continued to produce literary works in a variety of forms and styles well into the 20th century. My goal in this paper is to explore works of African American authors of the 20th century in relation to the following movements: Harlem Renaissance, Modernism, Realism, and Naturalism. Harlem Renaissance Harlem Renaissance, also known as a New Negro Movement, united a number of black writers in an unprecedented explosion of their creativity. It was the time when a racial identity of the black people was established thanks to united efforts of a number of talented African-Americans, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes among others. In her short story “Sweat” (1926), Zora Neale Hurston portrays a black washerwoman Delia and her unemployed husband Sykes who is a fan of cruel practical jokes. The story is set in Deep South, in one of small towns. Delia has to work long hours to earn the living. In addition, she is constantly abused by her husband. His abusive behavior has made Delia look much older and weary. Besides, Sykes often objects to her washing the clothes of white men in their house. In her mind Delia realizes that she does not need Sykes, especially as she contemplates her role as a breadwinner in the family. When Sykes, already having a mistress – “that ole snaggle-toothed black woman” - decides to poison Delia by a snake planted in the basket with Delia’s washing clothes, he ironically gets poisoned himself. The climax happens when Sykes, while in a dark bedroom, jumps onto the bed in an attempt to save himself from the snake – and the snake lies coiled there. At the end, Delia is portrayed sitting under a chinaberry tree as she is waiting for Sykes to breathe his last without lending a hand to him. This story fits into the overall idea of the Harlem Renaissance movement by its gender-specific focus. In particular, Delia is a portrayal of a black woman that grows to contemplating her freedom. The latter is perceived as independence from men. In this sense, the story contributed to the formation of a new black identity – an identity of a black woman. Next, Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” focuses on a period in life of the Youngers, a black family living in Chicago. Just as they are about to get a $10, 000 insurance check from the insurance policy of their late father, all members of the family discuss their dreams as to how to spend the money. Following the Mama’s decision to buy a bigger house, they are about to move in a large house in all-white neighborhood despite the warning of increased bombings of black homes. The family encounters a lot of discriminative pressure from the whites living around, who even offer money for the family’s move-out. After a range of vicissitudes, the Youngers start their move to the new apartment. Despite the fact they have lost a considerable part of the insurance money and despite the fact they know they will face a lot of prejudice in their new place of living, the Youngers look with hope at the prospects of their future life. Importantly, they realize the importance of staying together as a family and persisting with their dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” fits in the philosophy of Harlem Renaissance due to its focus on establishing a black identity: the family of African-American origin struggles to find a place in a white-dominated area/world, and succeeds in doing this despite the existing segregation. At the same time, the play’s character Beneatha is a prototype of a black woman who recognizes the importance of sticking to her African roots and holds the view black people should not be obsessed with finding a place in a white community. This ideal also fits in the message of Harlem Renaissance which centered on reviving black people’s roots and culture. Thirdly, the poems of Langston Hughes correspond to the idea of Harlem Renaissance due to their focus on racial pride of African-American people and their evident urge to keep reviving the cultural tradition. Specifically, the poem “Harlem” poses a question about a dream of being free from racial discrimination. What happens if this dream gets deferred? The ultimate answer is it will explode. By saying this, Hughes acts as prophet pointing at the consequences of blacks’ maltreatment. This may also be understood as an encouragement to persist with dreams of racial equality and as a way to establish the racial identity. Modernism Furthermore, the literary movement of modernism found its expression in numerous works of African-American writers. In poems by Countee Cullen, one may find the idea of black people’s duality as they realize they are of dual descent: the African and American one. In addition, the poet contemplates on black people’s plight in a society fraught with discrimination in social, cultural and economic aspects of everyday life. Although the poems by Countee Cullen are written in traditional form, the duality with which they contemplate the human identity and black people’s experience, as well as the evident ambiguity of his poems lead to referring his poems to the modernist movement. Angelina Weld Grimke’s poems focus on the theme of loss, a modernist one. Specifically, the reflections on loss are combined with some romantic perceptions in ‘A Winter Twilight’ (1923). In ‘A Winter Twilight’, Grimke examines the theme of nature’s power and does not stress the issue of racism. However, the poem is filled with a sense of diminishment and a feeling of loss – themes that preoccupied modernist poets and artists. This evident modernist spirit, which is mixed with romantic delicacy, leads us to identifying Grimke’s legacy within the modernist frame. Georgia Douglas Johnson’s “The Heart of a Woman” (1918) also explores the modernist theme of loss in combination with that of love as the poem’s persona meditates on a woman’s romantic experience. To illustrate, the heart of a woman is described entering “an alien cage in its plight” and breaking “on the sheltering bars” in its attempt to forget the lost dream (“as it has dreamed of the stars”). Hence, the poem’s gender context is evident, too. Realism Within the movement of realism, the works of three authors will be analyzed. These are the poems of Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lorraine Hansberry. The works of Countee Cullen are referred to realism owing to their interest in everyday life of black people. The heroes of his poems may be well thought to be representative of ordinary African-American folks. They are hardly idealized and set in quite unexotic settings. In addition, they attempt to convey the truth of the black people’s real condition in the 1920s/1930s. Cullen’s preoccupation with the racial question, for example, may be found in “Incident”. This poem introduces the audience to a grimly realistic world of a naive eight-year old boy during his firs-time experience of undisguised racism as he is riding through the streets of Baltimore that are filled with history. In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat, realism is achieved through the realistic depiction of Delia’s life. Delia has to work hard to provide for a living plus she is constantly abused by her husband. The realistic portrayal of characters, their everyday life, enhanced by extensive use of colloquial speech helps to convey the realistic mood of the story and understand the identity of its characters. Next, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry contributes to realism by its realistic portraits of black people’s life in the time when racial segregation was booming in the American society. The play obviously addresses the problems that were important in the 1950s: racial tensions between two communities – the back and white one, tensions among the members of the African-American community regarding the response to white discrimination, the issues of poverty. In addition, Hansberry even touches on the issue of abortion, quite a shocking topic for her time. Naturalism Last but not least, the discussion of naturalism will be based upon the works of Zola Neale Hurston and Harriet Jacobs. In “Sweat” one comes across naturalistic descriptions of reality. They are done in somewhat different way from what is typical for classical naturalistic works with a impassionate author merely stating things. In “Sweat” the members of the community provide detailed accounts of Delia’s life hardships alongside expressing their compassion towards the woman. The use of overtly colloquial black language enhances the naturalism of the story. To illustrate, “How Syke kin stommuck dat big black greasy Mogul he’s layin’ round wid, gits me. Ah swera dat eight-rock couldn’t kiss a sardine can Ah done throwed out de back do’ ‘way las yeah” (“Sweat”). In Hurston’s next short story “The Gilded Six-Bits”, an idyllic marriage is portrayed which is tested by infidelity of Missie, Joe’s wife, who is tempted by a conman with his ‘gilded’ jewelry. Odis Slemmons who seduced Missie is made to run out of the town after the two have been caught in the act of adultery. The story finishes with Joe coming back to Missie once he finds out her baby looks like him. The naturalistic tendency is evident in Hurston’s attention to details while she is describing certain things. For instance, the dinner between Missie Mae and Joe is described in detail as well as communion between the two. To illustrate, there is the clean tablecloth, red and white and checked; there is the buttermilk in the pitcher which has drops of butter, churned by the Missie Mae. Next, the hot fried fish, crackling bread (i.e. a thin corn bread which has cracklings – ham or pork rinds cooked in a crispy way), the ham and string beans, the spicy potato pudding, as well as the new potatoes. The details of the dinner are obviously an expression of Hurston’s naturalism. Again, naturalistic depictions of the setting, characters and account of what happened are enhanced by characters’ original speech. To illustrate, when Missie is telling her husband how she was seduced by Slemmons, she says: ‘He said he wuz gointer give me dat gold money – and he jes’ kep on after me’. To add, Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in a Life of a Slave Girl” (1861) is a depiction of the ex-slave woman’s self. The heroine seems to be divided between the previous world of slavery and the liberated life she is having at the moment. Just as the woman confesses having an affair with a white unmarried man who felt sympathetic towards Jacobs as she suffered from her master’s cruelty, she writes: “I know I did wrong. No one can feel it more sensibly than I do. The painful and humiliating memory will haunt me to my dying day. Still, in looking back, calmly, on the events of my life, I feel that the slave woman ought not to be judged by the same standard as others”. In my view, these words are illustrious of the pain that the character has to put up with as she lives. Together with the overall idea of the narrative by a slave this is an evidence of naturalism with its objective descriptions of a person’s struggle against powerful historical forces. Conclusion In this paper, the works of range of African-American authors have been discussed in relation to four aesthetic movements: Harlem Renaissance, Modernism, Realism, and Naturalism. It has been found that the common theme that unites the works discussed is racial issues, the problem of a black person finding a place in a white world, and the establishment of the black racial identity. Works Cited Gates, Henry and McKay, Nellie. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 2004. Print. Read More