The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts, and Letters - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801894611 ISBN 13: 9780801894619

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010

Synopsis

This volume provides new historical and literary insights into the Harlem Renaissance, returning attention to it not only as a broad expression of artistic work but also as a movement that found catharsis in art and hope in resistance.

By examining such major figures of the era as Jessie Fauset, Paul Robeson, and Zora Neale Hurston, the contributors reframe our understanding of the interplay of art, politics, culture, and society in 1920s Harlem. The fourteen essays explore the meaning and power of Harlem theater, literature, and art during the period; probe how understanding of racial, provincial, and gender identities originated and evolved; and reexamine the sociopolitical contexts of this extraordinary black creative class. Delving into these topics anew, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited reconsiders the national and international connections of the movement and how it challenged clichéd interpretations of sexuality, gender, race, and class. The contributors show how those who played an integral role in shattering stereotypes about black creativity pointed the way toward real freedom in the United States, in turn sowing some of the seeds of the Black Power movement.

A fascinating chapter in the history of the African American experience and New York City, the cultural flowering of the Harlem Renaissance reverberates today. This thought-provoking combination of social history and intellectual art criticism opens this powerful moment in history to renewed and dynamic interpretation and sharper discussion.

About this title

About the Author:

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is a professor of history and the associate dean for the humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap and Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Review:

"An articulate, thoughtful, and far-reaching collection, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited is a superb addition to American History and African-American studies shelves, and deserves the highest recommendation especially for college library collections."

(Midwest Book Review)

"The Harlem Renaissance Revisited offers a rich and various account of how we might go into the future from that partially but unavoidably reimagined past."

(John Pistelli Rain Taxi Review of Books)

"Ogbar creates a rich forum that has the potential to inform the future of the field."

(Ira Dworkin Melus)

"The articles suggest rich avenues for further research."

(Clare Corbould Journal of American History)

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0801894611
• ISBN 13: 9780801894619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Ogbar Jeffrey O. G.