Harlem+Renaissance+Style,+Focus,+Themes

__//Harlem Renaissance//__

=STYLE, FOCUS, THEMES=



During the Harlem Renaissance, writers had several unique styles and focus in their work. Since the time period of the Harlem Renaissance was the 20th century, many authors wrote about African American experience in Africa and the American south. Another theme they would focus on was racial pride and desire for social and political equality. For example Countee Cullen’s, “The Shroud of Color”, wrote about his black race and being a second class citizen just because of the dark skin color.

Harlem Renaissance writers would express their thoughts in many ways, such as Langston Hughes who would use the rhythms of African American music into his poems of ghetto life. Other writers would use the structure of blues songs in poetry with repetition. Other styles included Claude McKay, who made use of sonnets to attack racial violence. In the writing of the Harlem Renaissance authors, there was no agreement of the usage of black or rural dialect. Some would use it to an extent, and others would use it thoroughly. For example, Zora Neale Hurston fully used it in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The purpose of the dialect is to reflect the atmosphere and tone of the language in the black culture. Overall, Harlem Renaissance writers focused on one main topic, but expressed it in several forms and styles.