Literature

Literature in Relation to the Harlem Renaissance and Jazz Era

The 1920's was a booming time for numerous things; technology was rapidly advancing, cars were faster and more efficient, literature was nationally influential, and of course the big boom of the Harlem Renaissance. When World War 1 ended, there was an influx of approximately 500,000 African Americans to the northern part of the United States. With their luggage, they also brought along their culture and music. Many of the ways that the African Americans expressed their views and ideals was through literature. This included magazines such as Crisis, Opportunity Messenger, and the Amsterdam News as well as famous authors including Zora Huston, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, and Alain Locke. Alain Locke, commonly known as "The Father of the Harlem Renaissance," was a Professor of Philosophy at Howard University who published "The New Negro" in 1925. This essay described Locke's beliefs that African Americans should cast away their historical association with slavery, and adopt a more prideful image. Locke's writings included many of the ideals that black rights activist and Jamaican politician Marcus Garvey supported. 

Above is a description on how Alain Locke aided in the movement of the Harlem Renaissance.

While Alain Locke greatly impacted the start of the Harlem Renaissance, another author is much more notable during that time period: Langston Hughes. He wrote short stories, novels, plays, and his most memorable of all: poetry. Hughes incorporated his personal views into his poetry and throughout time you could see his ideals changing from antagonistic towards African Americans to frustration and sympathy for the African Americans plight. His work is most famous because of the evident search of acceptance for African Americans within the biased views of American society. 

Above is a photo of Langston Hughes' poem "The Motto," this poem is famous for showing Hughes' new adopted view towards the acceptance of the African Americans plight.

In 1919 the United States passed the Prohibition laws, and American society was in a riot. Many began bootlegging alcohol throughout the country in the 1920's. And while most went along with the ban and overlooked the "gangster" activities of the time, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the pleasure-seeking of the times. He published The Great Gatsby in 1925, which is a story about the American Dream, wealth, and over-indulgence. Following Gatsby were The Beautiful and the Damned as well as Tales From the Jazz Age. In addition to documenting all of the frivolous activities of the 20's, he also named the time period from the end of World War 1 to the beginning of the Great Depression as "The Jazz Age." 

Other books were published as well by well-known authors during this time period that helped forward the Harlem Renaissance:

• The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (about the world's complete and utter loss of spiritual personal, and moral values) 
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (about the life of a black woman in a black community)

While irrelevant to the Jazz Age, A.A. Milne published Winnie the Pooh in 1926. It is many years later and his books are still considered to be classics to the society, as well as his characters are still widely used in stories and television today. 

Above is video of Louis Armstrong, one of the most acclaimed jazz artist of all time, singing a classic: "What a Wonderful World."

 The rise of The Harlem Renaissance helped The Jazz Age to blossom; and with the invention of the radio, music was much for accessible. Some of the best known musicians of the Roaring Twenties consisted of jazz artists such as Duke Ellington and Al Jolson. Although Louis Armstrong was considered to be the most famous jazz musician of all time. He was not only a trumpeter, but a cornet player and singer as well. 

The Jazz Age and The Harlem Renaissance were pivotal in changing the way America viewed and accepted the African American population. As Kenneth B. Hilliard said in an article written for Yale University, "Although the Harlem Renaissance was short lived, it changed the face of Black America forever."

-Elizabeth Hardig

11/19/2012

Works Cited:

"1920's History." What Happened in the 1920s Inc. News, Popular Culture, Prices and Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1920s.html>.

"1920's Literature." 1920's Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.1920-30.com/literature/>.

Early, Gerald. "Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition, Freedom's Story, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition, Freedom's Story, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center. National Humanities Center, June 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/jazz.htm>.

"The Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age." The Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age. United States History, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/269/07_harl_ren_jaz_ag.htm?sequence=13>.

Hilliard, Kenneth B. "89.01.05: The Impact of the Music of the Harlem Renaissance on Society." 89.01.05: The Impact of the Music of the Harlem Renaissance on Society. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1989/1/89.01.05.x.html>.

""The Roaring Twenties"" ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/C005846/categories/artliter/artslit.htm>.