ENGL 229 - African American Literature - Exam 2 Flashcards
Claude McKay (1889-1948)
One of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance; known for his socialist politics. Different from the others because he adhered to old forms to write his protest poetry.
Jean Toomer (1894-1967)
Influential writer of the Harlem Renaissance. His book Cane (1923), of stories, poems, and essays, is considered an important work of the Harlem Renaissance.
Sterling Brown (1901-1989)
An influential poet and literary critic of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote about the African American rural experience, unlike many of his contemporaries who focused on urban themes.
Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
African-American poet and leading literary voice of the Harlem Renaissance. His modernist poems incorporated colloquial black speech and gave poetic expression to the twentieth-century African-American condition.
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
An American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Many readers objected to the representation of African American dialect in Hurston’s novels, given the racially charged history of dialect fiction in American literature.
Richard Wright (1908-1960)
African American author who wrote about racial oppression. He joined the Communist Party for a brief time in the early 1930s.
James Baldwin (1924-1987)
Essayist, novelist, playwright, poet, and critic of the African American experience. His work can have a liturgical style (influenced by his religious upbringing), strong social commentary, and characters that reflected issues Baldwin faced.
Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)
An influential Black female author who was born into a politically active family that fought against housing segregation and won a court case in the 1940s.
“Harlem Shadows”
McKay; Black women who were sex workers during the Harlem Renaissance. “Feet of clay” denotes a fall from grace. Discusses racism, poverty, and dishonor.
“If We Must Die”
McKay; Published during the Red Summer, however, denied any relation to it. Discussed political opposition to White politics and active resistance. Includes animal imagery and the transition of Black people from hogs to men. White men remained dogs. Dignity in death.
Harlem Renaissance (1919-1940)
A flowering of African-American artistic creativity during the 1920s, centered in the Harlem community of New York. Mass education allowed Black authors to write for a Black audience. Also included political organization & formation of NAACP, Urban League, etc.
Urban Realism Literauture (1940s-1950s)
“These works exhibited to true-to-life representations of African American experiences and was to an extent a continuation of what some writers of the Harlem Renaissance represented in their work. This next wave of writers examined the severe impact of social power structures upon the individuals who strived to overcome an oppressive system”
Great Migration (1880-1940)
Movement of over 300,000 African Americans from the rural South into Northern cities to pursue economic opportunities and escape southern raicsm.
“Cane”
A collection of vignettes detailing the lives of African American women, both in the South and the North. Celebration of Folk Culture. The theme of dissatisfaction with men (Karintha and her town, Esther leaving King Barlo, and Fern regaining her virginity). The theme of nature and African American women through poems of nature before each vignette and the women’s connection to nature (Carma working in the fields, Karintha associated with the sun).
“Ma Rainey”
Brown; 1927 Flood of Mississippi River. Power of live music performances, specifically Blues/Jazz. Black people as audience members and consumers of music/culture. Poem written for the masses as opposed to wealthy white people.
