THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HARLEM RENAISSANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Maret 13, 2020
Oleh: Karina Hanum Luthfia
(Mahasiswi S3 Kajian Amerika UGM dan Dosen Sastra Inggris Universitas Negeri Semarang) |
| Source: studybreaks.com |
In the
origin of the
history, African American social group was recognized as a slave. Their
existence were frequently underestimated of being ignorant and
impoverished.
Nevertheless, the struggle of the civil rights movement had eventually
been
progressive in ushering the social group in accessing education,
politics, and
economics sectors. Subsequently, African American in the late nineteenth
century expressed their novel images of being educated and successful in
owning
some properties as depiction on their wealth. In fact, the new image of
African
American was not taken into account by White American that they were
actually
equal at the time being. The perspective has triggered the emergence of
Jim
Crow law, a racial caste system, from which the life of African American
and
White American had to be segregated.
Started
from Southern
America massive migration to Northern America in order to achieve a
freedom and
equality, the movement was inadequate to express the African American
recent demeanor. For the reason, a wealthy African American decided to
buy a property
in the Harlem area. Harlem is an outstanding neighborhood located in New
York
City from which at first was inhabited by a high-class White American.
Recognition was the ultimate aim for African American in their attempt
to
assimilate to the high-class White American in Harlem. The struggle was
successful since White America at last recognized that African American
was no
longer living in the old image of being ignorant and impoverished. None
the less,
the recognition of African American’s existence from White America was
followed
by the racial issue, even though they were already educated and wealthy,
they
were still African American. The fact which rest on racial and ethnical
issue
led Harlem area turning into a cheapjack area. The White American,
subsequently, sold all of their property no matter how cheap the prices
were
since they could not bear to live with African American people. Harlem
neighborhood was no longer prestigious.
African American literature
considered as the media in revealing and expressing African American social
issues was suddenly increased as a response to the Harlem tragedy. Langston
Hughes is one of the Harlem Renaissance writers whose poem Harlem expressed painful disappointment of African American
experiencing the racial segregation even though they had provided all of the
capitals they owned in order to step on that level. The tragedy of Harlem
ushered into the new movement of Harlem Reinassance from which African Americans
expressed their self-determination since African American owned a neighborhood
in Harlem. The renaissance embraced all elements of life which are literature,
music, and art as such. The new persona was expressed to the world that African
American could stand their existence on the land of America.
“Each narrative taken alone offers a fragmentary, microcosmic
representation of slave life. Read together, they offer a sweeping composite
view of slavery in North America, allowing us to explore some of the most compelling
themes of nineteenth-century slavery, including labor, resistance and fight,
family life, relations with masters, and religious belief.” (Rawick, 1972: 79)
For that reason, the writer found that
Harlem Renaissance brought significant influence in African American life,
especially literature since literature was the weapon of African American in
pursuing their life and identity.
References
Rawick, George. 1972. The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography. Connecticut:
Greenword Press
BIODATA PENULIS
Karina Hanum Luthfia atau
biasa dipanggil Hanum, adalah seorang mahasiswi S3 Pengkajian Amerika
yang juga mengajar di Universitas Negeri Semarang. Saat ini
sedang menitikberatkan fokusnya ke kampus untuk mengajar dan penelitian
mengenai gerakan literasi di Indonesia. Ia juga memiliki pengalaman
menjadi volunteer dan researcher di salah satu locally run NGO di Yogyakarta.
0 komentar