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

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

The first book in the Circles of the Twentieth Century series which focuses on writers, artists, poets, hostesses and patrons who played a role in moderism as we know it. Watson explores the lively and fascinating people who helped bring about what became known as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.From Publishers WeeklyThis engaging portrait of the "first self-conscious black literary constellation in American history" mixes text with photos and artwork; a side column on each page offers quotes, poetry and pungent Harlem slang. Watson (Strange Bedfellows: The First American Avant Garde) explains the forces behind the Renaissance, from economic changes to the public advocacy of figures like W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, then offers sketches of writers prominent in this flowering. While the "New Negro" movement was initially aimed at blacks, by the mid-1920s, "Harlem became a commodity as driven by its audience as... by its participants. Harlemania set in." The role of white patrons ("Negrotarians," to writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston) prompted black writers to debate what image they should project. Watson also examines the Harlem music and club world, including the thriving gay scene. Although the crash of 1929 devastated Harlem and dispersed its luminaries, the author observes, the Renaissance was also rent by internal contradictions over questions of art, politics and racial unity. A most inviting blend of text and art.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.Review"A grand tour of the time, place, and driving forces behind one of the nation's greatest cultural flourishings."--The Washington PostFrom the Trade Paperback edition.From the Inside Flapok in the Circles of the Twentieth Century series which focuses on writers, artists, poets, hostesses and patrons who played a role in moderism as we know it. Watson explores the lively and fascinating people who helped bring about what became known as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.About the AuthorSteven Watson has written about the arts for a number of publications, includingNewsday andThe Village Voice.