Changes of the Poetry and Novels of Langston Hughes from Harlem Renaissance to the Period of the Civil Movement in the 1960s.

Many forms of art, especially literature, have reflected the African-American revolution. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is represented in numerous literary works and debated by some of America’s most influential authors and poets of the day. James Mercer Langston Hughes is a well-known author and public figure whose work gained popularity during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He was one of the first poets to use jazz type in great verse, as well as one of the architects of the Harlem Renaissance, an American artistic revolution.

The so-called Harlem Renaissance emerged as a major and fascinating intellectual movement of the 1920s. It was a sudden postwar heyday of the “black” arts of the United States, which, in fact, created the decade of the “century of jazz” (Aberjhani & West 8) Being initiated as a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance have involved different artistic circles of the African-American artists, musicians, singers, and “opened the borders” of the Negro ghetto (Aberjhani & West 9). New black art penetrated into the lives of people of the whole country. Moreover, Harlem became the intellectual and cultural center of the country.

In addition to Harlem Renaissance, which had great influence on the American culture, Civil Movement of the 1960s can be also attached to the list of the movements that changed the floe of American history and shaped the culture of the country. The movement, characterized by mass social protests, started in the 1960s, and has become the visit card of the US history of the post war period (Aberjhani & West 12). Demonstration of African Americans and other minorities escalated into protests by representatives of many social groups. During these years, serious social events took place in Europe and in Latin America as well as in some Asian countries, but American protest movement is the most massive and influential in the history of the country. Thesis: the poetry of Langston Hughes changed with the changes of the experience of African Americans from the time of Harlem Renaissance to the period of the Civil Movement in 1960s.

Early years and the beginning of literary path

The first poems of Hughes were written in his student years, but his real literary debut took place in 1921, after the publication of his poem in the magazine The Crisis. Hughes got a perfect education: at first he studied at Columbia University (who left after a year teaching in 1922 because of racial hatred), then he studies at the University of Lincoln in Philadelphia, which he graduated in 1929 (Meltzer 12). Student years of Hughes gave the impulse to the development of Harlem Renaissance, as he faced with the racial prejudice and decided to address this problem through literature and poems.

In the early poems, Hughes wrote about the values of usual African-Americans. These poems were characterized by the use of folklore and tradition of Negro songs. Late lyrics of Hughes are characterized by a synthesis of different genres and had a focus on the social and political aspects of relations between races. In total, Hughes published sixteen books of poetry. Last collection The Panther and the Lash (1967) and The Backlash Blues include poems devoted to topical political events, particularly the struggle of blacks for the civil rights (Meltzer 14). Special lyricism and richness of poetic forms are peculiar to collection of poems Shakespeare in Harlem (1942) (Meltzer 14). In general, after close and attentive reading of the poems and writings of Hughes, one may notice his professional and personal growth as a poet and a person, who struggled for the independence and equality of rights of the black population. It is possible to notice the changes of style and feelings of the poems, written in the period of the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement. These were the major themes of his poetry.

The art of Langston Hughes in the period of Harlem Renaissance

Although, researchers rarely turn to the question of translating the ideas of the Negro Renaissance in the art of its particular representatives, it is necessary to pay attention to the analysis of how the spiritual and aesthetic pursuit of the era are reflected in the novels of Hughes. The centuries-old culture of Africa together with its fundamental difference the European one had to clearly demonstrate that African Americans and their rich independent cultural heritage have ancient roots (Berry 28). In the eyes of the representatives of the Harlem Renaissance this confirmed their unconditional equality with the whites and justified the claims of the blacks for full civil rights and privileges.

The works of Hughes of this period do not contain any calls for action or prejudiced hints, as they are devoted to the description of the rich African culture, as if Hughes wanted to underline the beauty of the Black continent and point its equality with America. One of the first novels of Hughes, which he devoted to Africa, is Luani of the Jungles (Berry 31). Here, Hughes depicts the love story of a young student with African woman. Together with depiction of traditions and life of the Black Continent, Hughes tried to underline that this country is very beautiful; therefore, it gives birth to talented and exceptional people, who deserve living in whenever they want.

Another novel African Morning (1936) is devoted to the tragedy of life of the boy, the son of a black African woman and white Englishman. Through depiction of one morning from life of 12-year old Moray, the author shows that the overwhelming loneliness of a boy is a consequence of the interracial union of his parents (Berry 32). Thus, Hughes underlined the feelings and conditions of life of most Africans in America. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the novels about Africa contained the answers to numerous questions, which the representatives of the Harlem Renaissance asked.

The art of Langston Hughes in the period of the Civil Movement

This period of American History has also given birth to talented and outstanding writers, who highlighted the problems of biased and prejudiced attitude to African American population

Since the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, events of the 1960’s provided the Black writers with the opportunity to discover and depict beauty and individuality of Africa with its culture (Berry 16). In this turbulent period of American history, Langston Hughes used the stories, rituals, songs, and customs of African ancestry into his works. As a result, he has become a bright representative of the movement, struggling for equality of the African population in America.

During the Civil Rights period, Hughes preserved and claimed his part of the Harlem Renaissance inheritance of cultural responsibility. Unlike Harlem’s period, characterized by a number of novels, Civil rights period witnessed the rise of Hughes as a poet. His poems contained call for an action to fight for equality and freedom to choose their own culture. One of the most prominent poems of Hughes about the desire for equality is I too, where poet showed that good times for Africans will obviously come: “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, ”Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America” (Berry 17)

Such poems of Hughes and other representatives of the civil rights movement inspired millions of citizens whose autonomy and self-respect depended on the destruction of systemic prejudice that penetrated into national policies and personal mindsets.

Conclusion

The poetry of Langston Hughes changed with the changes of the experience of African Americans from the time of Harlem Renaissance to the period of the Civil Movement in 1960s. In the period of Harlem Renaissance, Hughes was concentrated on the depiction of African culture and life, while during the Civil Rights movement Hughes focused on creation of poems, which called for actions to struggle for equality and the right to place African culture in the same line with American one.

Works Cited

Aberjhani & West S. L. (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. N. Y. : Checkmark Press, 2003.

Berry, Faith. Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings by Langston Hughes. New York & Westport: Lawrence Hill, 1973.

Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes: before and beyond Harlem. Conn: Lawrence Hill. 1983.

Meltzer, Milton. Langston Hughes: A Biography. NY: Thomas Crowell Company, 1968.