A Historical Guide to Langston Hughes

by Steven C. Tracy

Overview

Langston Hughes has been an inspiration to generations of readers and writers seeking a passionate, intelligent, and socially responsible art. In this volume, Steven C. Tracy has gathered a broad range of critics to produce an interdisciplinary approach to the important historical and cultural elements reflected in the variety of genres in which Hughes worked. Through the lenses of creative writers, musicians, social activists and critics, this collection explores the ways that Hughes transformed American literature and society. Rooting his aesthetic in the art and values of Black folk, Hughes mediated the conflicting artistic demands of both the literati and the masses, demonstrating the social and spiritual power of art. Contributors to this volume place Hughes in the context of Harlem, his preferred geographical and spiritual home base, as well as the larger political, social, musical, and artistic milieu of his rapidly changing times. Their essays examine Hughes's negotiation of his own moral and ethical ground in a complex, sometimes hostile world, and demonstrate the remarkable triumph of a sensitive, creative human being who refused to be overwhelmed by the forces of discrimination, pessimism, and bitterness that claimed so many writers of his generation. An essentially very private individual, Hughes nonetheless rejected difficulty, obscurity, and the ivory tower in order to generate a very public life and art. This volume, with its historical essays, brief biography, and illustrated chronology, provides a concise yet authoritative portrait of one of America's and the world's most beloved writers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195144345
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/04/2003
Series:	Historical Guides to American Authors
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	1510L (what's this?)

About the Author

Steven C. Tracy is Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Hughes in Our Time, Steven C. Tracy1. Langston Hughes, 1902-1967: A Brief Biography, R. Baxter Miller2. The Poet Speaks of Places: A Close Reading of Langston Hughes's Literary Use of Place, James de Jongh3. Langston Hughes and Afro-American Vernacular Music, Steven C. Tracy4. Hughes and Twentieth-Century Genderracial Issues, Joyce A. Joyce5. The Adventures of a Social Poet: Langston Hughes from the Popular Front to Black Power, James Smethurst6. Illustrated Chronology7. Bibliographical Essay, Dolan Hubbard8. Contributors

Editorial Reviews

A Historical Guide to Langston Hughes is an excellent tool for both scholars and undergraduates alike, for it provides critical details and scholarly readings in a manner that is approachable and readable."—The Langston Hughes Review

"Offers a useful introduction to the 'Shakespeare of Harlem.' It firmly returns Hughes's prose and poetry to their historical and biographical contexts.... Together with the included biography, timeline, and bibliographic essay, these essays will be a helpful resource for college students."—Virginia Quarterly Review

From the Publisher