|
Biography
Langston Hughes, a native of Joplin, Missouri, became one
of the most popular figures of the Harlem Renaissance. His
goal was to write a truly "Negro" poetry without perpetuating
racial stereotypes. Many of his poems appeared in the journals Opportunity and Crisis,
as well as in Alain Locke's The New Negro (1925) and
Countee Cullen's Caroling Dusk (1927). Wealthy patrons
helped him to publish his first volume of poetry -- The
Weary Blues (1926) -- to go through college, and to support
himself while writing. In the 1930s, Hughes became increasingly
involved in radical politics and joined the American Communist
Party because of its claim to represent all races equally
in its working-class solidarity. These connections haunted
Hughes during Senator Joseph McCarthy's red scare of the
1950s: Hughes was called to testify before the House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1953 and was considered a
security risk by the FBI until 1959. During the 1950s he
completed several memorable anthologies, including The
First Book of Negros (1952), The First Book of Jazz (1955),
and The Book of Negro Folklore (1958).
Explorations
Langston Hughes's literary legacy is prodigious and varied.
The poems in NAAL offer an introduction to his range
-- not only of subjects, but also of forms. Poems such as The
Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921) and Note on Commercial
Theatre (1949) use open forms reminiscent of those used
by Whitman and Sandburg;
others suggest the compactness and tight structures of works
by Dickinson or Frost.
1. Why do you suppose that Hughes favored the short lyric
rather than the longer, Whitmanesque poem? What compatibilities
do you see between the themes he develops and the length
of the given poem?
2. Why is Song for a Dark Girl (1927), a poem
about a lynching, written in a form suggestive of a nursery
rhyme or a medieval ballad?
3. Note on Commercial Theatre (1949) addresses
the dilution and expropriation of African American culture
by Broadway, Hollywood Bowl, and other white-controlled
media. The end of the poem affirms that someday there will
be "plays about me!"--which seems to mean more authentic
works about African American people and experiences. The
closing four lines, however, have an irregular rhythm.
Talk about the way this poem ends--with two exclamations,
then a space, and then a simple affirmation. Can you offer
any general speculations about the spirit in which Hughes's
poems conclude?
Other sites to consult:
Academy
of American Poets Hughes page. Includes a
biography, bibliography, nine poems, an audio clip
of Hughes reading "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," and
links to other Hughes sites. Also includes a link
to the AAP online exhibition Poets of the Harlem
Renaissance and After, in which Hughes is featured.
Harlem
Renaissance. Features outlines of the period,
a detailed chronology, study questions, and links
to in-depth discussions of key figures such as Hughes.
From the PAL: Perspectives in American Literature site
maintained by Paul P. Reuben (California State University,
Stanislaus).
Second
and final drafts of Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker
T.". Viewing these drafts of Hughes's poem
about Booker T. Washington shows
us something of his writing process and how he labored
in this poem to understand the man whose accommodationist
philosophy Hughes had sharply criticized. (From the
Library of Congress African American Odyssey exhibition.)
Harlem
Renaissance art. An in-progress site from
the University of Colorado with useful background
on the fine artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Includes a Hughes audio clip.
Gerald
Early's review of The Collected Poems of Langston
Hughes. An insightful, informative, article
from the May 1995 Boston Book Review.
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84&CFID=9020342&CFTOKEN=13372336:
The Academy of American Poets’ Langston Hughes
site.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/hughes.htm:
Modern American Poetry on Langston Hughes.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/hughes:
A Library of Congress Web site about Hughes.
|
