Harlem Renaissance period of American Literature - 1920s

The Harlem Renaissance period runs parallel to Modernism

Content:

• celebrated characteristics of African-American life
• enjoyment of life without fear
• writing defines the African-American heritage and celebrates their new identity as Americans

Genre/Style:

• allusions in writing often refer to African-American spirituals
• uses the structure of blues songs in poetry (ex-repetition of key phrases)
• superficial stereotypes later revealed to be characters capable of complex moral judgments

Effect:

• this period gave birth to a new form of religious music called "gospel music"
• blues and jazz are transmitted across America via radio and phonographs

Historical Context:

• mass African-American migration to Northern urban centers.
• African-Americans have more access to media and publishing outlets after they move north.

To find out more about a particular literature time period, click on the links below:

• American Literature through Time
• Puritan Times
• Rationalism/Age of Enlightenment
• American Renaissance/Romanticism
• Gothic
• Realism
• Naturalism
• Modernism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Postmodernism
• Contemporary