Customer Reviews

The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930 (Circles of the Twentieth Century)

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I read this book in hardcover as well as several others for a paper I wrote. The author was able to take the disparate threads of musicians, artists, writers and benefactors who contributed to the Renaissance and weave together a chronology that contained pictures, specific information about the "hotspots" in Harlem and complete, sometimes intimate portraits of all concerned. If the Harlem Renaissance was ever to be depicted in a movie, this book would be a ready-made screen play. The hardcover edition is worth the extra money.

This is a worthwhile and well-researched book. It is more scholarly than I expected, and as a result, it took me a while to get fully engaged in. By the time I got to the section discussing the jazz artists, it was hard to put down. I was familiar with most of the writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance to some extent. The book painted a more vivid picture of many of them, and gave keen perspectives on the social and economic milieu that helped to shape the period. It was fascinating to read about some of the interlocking relationships, in particular the relationships between Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Charlotte Mason. Examples such as this changed my notion of writing always being an insular profession. The men and women of the Harlem Renaissance benefited by each other's support as well as competition.

I first bought and read this great and informative book, seven years ago. I recently bought this copy, for a former student; who is now an Navy Officer. The book is full of details, a short history of a most colorful period of history and a pleasure to read, concerning great American talent; given to the world to enjoy.

Using a variety materials -- photos, maps, charts, marginalia -- the book offers a multi-dimensional view of the flowering of arts and letters known as the Harlem Renaissance. Cultural, personal, and geographic connections are made clear among the many fascinating leaders of the movement. Concise biographies of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neal Husrton, and many other figures fill the main text, while all those supplementary materials help bring them to life. I could pick nits, but it's wonderful to have this thoughtful and imaginative overview in one handy package.

The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930, by Steve Watson, part of the "Circles of the Twentieth Century" series, presents an easy-to-follow crash-course to the neighborhoods and decade. Watson allows readers to glimpse the lively streets of Harlem, where people of various colors and sexual orientation mingled in wild dance clubs or sat together at extravagant performances (although some of the more chic places still catered to a white only or partially segregated clientele). White New Yorkers would venture "Uptown" to sample black culture in Harlem in a relatively accepting environment, enjoying the shows of some of the best jazz musicians and performers of the time. Of course, racism and exploitation still played a role in many of these relations. Nevertheless, it was an improvement from previous eras when the black community was mostly resented and ignored.

The movement is best told through the works of its literary elite, and it is on these figures that Watson concentrates his efforts. These young writers, most notably Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen, were nurtured and guided by the previous generation's intellectuals and various rich, influential Harlemites. Among these was W.E.B. Du Bois, who through his magazine, The Crisis, hoped to guide the next generation, showcasing young talents' select work in the way of propaganda in order to advance blacks in society. Other "Forefathers", as Watson calls them, included blacks and whites, heterosexuals and homosexuals. Among these were Carl Van Vechten, Jessie Fauset, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, and later, Charlotte van der Veer Quick Mason. Each of these mentors/patrons wished to direct the movement in their own way; however, most of their protégés would break away and find their own paths, defining for themselves the Harlem Renaissance.

Watson never does dive too deep in any single aspect of the Renaissance, instead preferring broad glances at the various aspects of the movement. However, most of his attention is guided by the lives of three of the decades leading writers, mentioned above. Their stories reveal that this was far from a cohesive movement, as each saw their role and obligations differently. Though they all began by embracing their color and culture, they soon diverted from each other. Langston and Hurston embraced vulgarity and broke from the safe propaganda of Du Bois, instead reveling in works of vice and racial pride. Their works refused to conform to white tradition, and even seemed to dare their white audience to read them (Hughes's Fire!!, for example). Cullen, on the other hand, maintained formal verse forms and tried to rise above the identification of a "Negro writer." Regardless of their differences, they represented the first and most influential black artistic movements in the nation's history, up to that time. Their works were enjoyed not only by black readers, but read widely by white audiences as well. Additionally, the Renaissance seems to not only have been a time of exposure for blacks, but also for homosexuals, as most involved in the literary movement seem to have been. These include many high profile figures, such as Carl Van Vechten and Countee Cullen, whose openness in an earlier (and also later) time would have been unheard of. This seems another testament to the tolerance of Renaissance Harlem, punctuated with such gay hangouts as the Clam House that proved popular.

One of the most interesting figures dealt with was Zora Neale Hurston. Most compelling was her anthropological adventure throughout the rural South. Watson allows us to see Hurston weed through her roots and find a black identity that she did not know intimately. We learn of her taking on aliases to become accepted in various black communities to record their rituals and folklore, even lying "facedown, nude, for sixty-nine hours, without food or water, her navel touching a rattle-snake skin" (Watson 149). In essence it is an account of a woman seeking her roots, trying to come to terms with a culture she hasn't fully accepted or understood. This seems to be also the essence of the Harlem Renaissance, artists trying to find their way in a world that has not allowed them into the fold or even showed them truthfully their past. It is a longing most Americans, in a nation of displaced immigrants, can relate to.

With Watson's broad stroke one gets an idea of the Harlem Renaissance, and certainly a decent amount of knowledge about the writers, but it is difficult to really get a feel for what it would have been like for a typical Harlemite to live through it. By concentrating on the writers, he is putting our focus upon those who were exceptional, whose differences made them stand out and be recognized. By their merit, they were not typical of others of their time. For instance, much attention is given to Claude McKay, who wasn't even in Harlem, let alone the country, at the time. Granted, the reader is offered descriptions of rent parties and a few popular venues, yet it is not clear how much the average resident was aware of this literary and artistic movement, went to the venues, or mingled regularly with whites. Just how widespread was the Renaissance? Were there many other writers struggling to be recognized at the time that might not have made it? Or was it limited to a select few who wrote about the energy seen all around during the `Roaring Twenties'? Furthermore, can it be truly called a renaissance, which suggests rebirth, when there was no black American literary tradition to be reborn? This all suggests that Watson views the Harlem Renaissance as mainly involving a small literary circle with a strong black identity, and all else seems something of a coincidence. While the subjects are inherently interesting, the book unfortunately lacks in explaining these other important elements and issues.

In my journey to explore the Harlem Renaissance, I started with this book. I felt the author gave a good basic view of the era but he left out the soul. He focused on six or seven primary personalities of the time, from Langston Hughes to Zora Neale Hurston, and tied the times into their existence. I was left feeling like there had to be more about the era. The author also chases around issues of major character homosexuality, stating it but not really being clear about it. I was ready for it to end.

I really enjoyed this book. I had to read it for an english class. At first I thought it was going to be hard to read and dumb due to the dialect, but as I read further into the book, I found out what a great book it was and why it was on the required reading list. I would greatly recommmend reading this book to any one who hasnot. It deals with a black woman's search for indeoendence over 25 years and 3 marriages. It is a great book and gets TWO thumbs up from me!!!