THE HARLEM RENAISSANCEOR

“THE NEW NEGRO MOVEMENT”Have you heard of this before?

What do you know about this movement? (any words or ideas that you associate with it?)

WHAT IS A RENAISSANCE?

… A RENEWAL OF LIFE, VIGOR, INTEREST, OR REBIRTH IN THE WORLD OF ART, LITERATURE AND LEARNING.

Who do you think of when you hear about the Italian Renaissance?

What people do you associate with it?

What ideas?

Where is Harlem?

What can you assume about it, based on what makes a Renaissance is?

Italian Renaissance? What about Harlem?

FIRST THINGS FIRST…

This movement happened in Harlem New York

Black artists, performers, writers, philosophers, and political figures based in New York City and Paris.

1919-1935 Started at the end of World War One Began to die out in the Great Depression

Where, When and Who?

WHAT WAS THE POINT?

-These artists and intellectuals were working towards several ideals.

- A creation of distinct art forms and styles as a way to express black identity and pride and debunk the eurocentric forms of thinking that were all over academia. (What is Eurocentric?)

-"to rehabilitate the image of the black man wherever he was" through "the expression of black personality” (D.A. Masolo, Philosopher)

-Art was a wonderful way to go about this, especially within music and the written word (Hello Jazz!)

THINK ABOUT THIS QUOTE.

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement “that accepted diversity or otherness without hierarchical judgments of human worth on the basis of racial and cultural characteristics"

What is this saying?

There was also the desire to find a way to be both African and American. Many people felt displaced, because they were

neither completely from Africa, nor did they feel completely American.

This made New York City the PERFECT place for this movement to take place. Can anyone think why?

WHAT ABOUT PARIS?Though this movement started in the heart

of Harlem, it also took a huge foothold in Paris.

This was reflected when the second “Pan African Congress” was held in France (conferences held to address the issue of European colonization in Africa)

What did Paris offer that America couldn’t?

-It was more accepting of racial diversity.

-It provided many Black artists and intellectuals an opportunity to get an academic experience and “cultural” experience that they could not get in the United States.

WHAT ABOUT THE ARTS?

Jazz began to evolve from the blues

This united two social classes of Black Americans, the educated upper class, and the working class

Why? It blended “sophisticated” instruments like the piano, with lyrics and song styles from the working class

Expression of loss through song,

Many poets and authors began to write in response to Jazz and the Blues, writing lyrics, but without music.

MusicHow does this relate to poetry?

BASICALLY, THEY WROTE LYRICAL POETRY.Now that means any words to a song, but the true definition is:

A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet, but does not tell a story that portrays characters and actions. It addresses the reader directly, portraying the poets own feelings, state of mind, and perceptions.

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A lot of songs deal directly with the singers emotions,

They talk about a personal experience, not the story of some removed person.

This makes sense…

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