The Harlem Renaissance

English III

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Background

• Originally known as "The New

Negro Movement," the Harlem
Renaissance was an artistic and
political blossoming led by
African-American intellectuals
and artists.
• In part because of the Great
Migration, in part because of
new jobs available, urban centers
like Harlem became especially
relevant in the '20s.
A Different Kind of
Modernism
• Like their White counterparts, Harlem
writers and artists were skeptical and
disillusioned, and they searched
for new techniques to communicate.
• What separated them was their view
of artistic endeavor as an extension of
the struggle against oppression.
• Writing in both free and conventional
verse, Harlem poets expressed racial
pride boldly. The work avoids
stereotype but has links to African roots
and folk tradition.
Not Just Literature

• Jazz, swing, and big band music

flourished in Harlem at the time, and
jazz clubs such as The Savoy and The
Cotton Club were meeting places for all
of these artists to interact.
• Using techniques like cubism, Harlem
Renaissance painters and sculptors
focused on capturing the movement
and vigor of contemporary life.
• African-American publishing grew
through magazines such as
FIRE!!, Opportunity, and The Crisis.
Literary Motifs

• Alienation and marginality

• Folk tradition
• The blues tradition
• Writing for a niche audience

No matter what, Harlem Renaissance

writers sought to portray the African-
American Experience in all its variety and
complexity, as realistically as possible. 
The End?

• On one hand, the migration died down

and communities settled;
fundamentalists criticized "the devil's
music." The Great Depression meant
that African-American art became a
luxury.
• On the other hand, new arms of
African-American art, such as rock and
roll and Motown music, sprung up
shortly after. You could argue that the
spirit of the Harlem Renaissance just
evolved.