The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts, and Letters

by Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar (Editor)

This volume provides new historical and literary insights into the Harlem Renaissance, returning attention to it not only as a broad expression of artistic work but also as a movement that found catharsis in art and hope in resistance. By examining such major figures of the era as Jessie Fauset, Paul Robeson, and Zora Neale Hurston, the contributors reframe our understanding of the interplay of art, politics, culture, and society in 1920s Harlem. The fourteen essays explore the meaning and power of Harlem theater, literature, and art during the period; probe how understanding of racial, provincial, and gender identities originated and evolved; and reexamine the sociopolitical contexts of this extraordinary black creative class. Delving into these topics anew, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited reconsiders the national and international connections of the movement and how it challenged clichéd interpretations of sexuality, gender, race, and class. The contributors show how those who played an integral role in shattering stereotypes about black creativity pointed the way toward real freedom in the United States, in turn sowing some of the seeds of the Black Power movement. A fascinating chapter in the history of the African American experience and New York City, the cultural flowering of the Harlem Renaissance reverberates today. This thought-provoking combination of social history and intellectual art criticism opens this powerful moment in history to renewed and dynamic interpretation and sharper discussion.

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is associate professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut. He is author of Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity and edited the volume The Civil Rights Movement: Problems in American Civilization.

Reviews

[Paige Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts, and Letters edited by Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar is a compelling and richly layered scholarly collection that returns fresh eyes to one of the most celebrated and creatively fertile periods in African American history, offering new interpretations that are as timely as they are illuminating.

One of the volume's greatest strengths is the breadth and diversity of its fourteen essays. Rather than presenting a single unified argument, the contributors approach the Harlem Renaissance from multiple angles, examining theater, literature, visual art, gender identity, racial politics, and sexuality in ways that together construct a far more complex and complete picture of the movement than traditional accounts have typically allowed.

The decision to centre figures such as Jessie Fauset, Paul Robeson, and Zora Neale Hurston is particularly welcome. By giving sustained attention to artists and intellectuals whose contributions have sometimes been overshadowed by more canonical names, the collection broadens our understanding of who shaped the Renaissance and how its meaning was contested and negotiated from within.

Equally impressive is the collection's willingness to situate the Harlem Renaissance within its wider sociopolitical context. The essays that probe the racial, provincial, and gendered dimensions of the movement reveal how deeply intertwined artistic expression and political struggle were during this period, and how the creative work of the era was always also an act of resistance and reimagination.

The volume's exploration of the movement's national and international connections is another highlight. By tracing the global resonances of Harlem's cultural flowering, the contributors remind readers that this was not simply a local or even American phenomenon but a moment of worldwide significance for Black culture and politics.

For readers interested in African American history, cultural studies, literary criticism, and the history of art and politics, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited is an essential and energising collection that opens one of history's most extraordinary creative moments to renewed and dynamic interpretation.