THE LITERATURE MOVEMENT
THE BEGINNING (1921)
"The importance of this movement to African American literary art lies in the efforts of its writers to exalt the heritage of African Americans and to use their unique culture as a means toward re-defining African American literary expression."
~ The Harlem Renaissance Multimedia Resource
~ The Harlem Renaissance Multimedia Resource
Many African American literary artists showed in their works the struggle that African Americans had gone through— how they had lost their heritage, been forced to assimilate in a white world, and were just attempting to regain their culture. They brought this idea into the public eye to make all people recognize and understand their strife. The ties that many writers had with protest organizations and political activists (e.g. W.E.B. Du Bois with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) caused a widespread feeling in blacks that all accomplishments were politically beneficial. Nevertheless, most writers did not try too hard to prove a point and were not overly biased.
THE END (1929+)
The Renaissance began spiraling towards its demise in 1929, when the stock market crashed in America. Nevertheless, many writers that were popular during the 1920s continued on a streak or relative success throughout the following years —some for even decades. As the era of black pride peaked and lost its fame, themes in literature began changing. The themes of romanticism that were prevalent in works during the early years of the Renaissance morphed into naturalistic ones. In other words, authors became more realistic and objective in their works, rather than freely expressing their emotions and spiritual.