ENGL 399I ST: The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement of black writers and artists that flourished in the 1920s through the early years of WWII; the influence of this period has persisted throughout the 20th century into the current day. We will be reading works by writers including Jesse Redmon Fauset, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes. Themes their works explore include migration and metropolitan life, primitivism and the avant garde, diaspora and exile, passing and identity, sexuality and secrecy, and the relation between modern art and folk tradition. We'll also consider the interchange of influence between these literary artists and the musicians and visual artists who were their contemporaries.