“What is Africa to Me?”: Harlem Renaissance Searches for Identity

Zdzisław Głębocki

Kolegium Literaturoznawstwa, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Zdzisław Głębocki, dr, adiunkt w Kolegium Literaturoznawstwa Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku. Jego zainteresowania naukowe obejmują szeroko pojętą antropologię kulturową ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem kultury amerykańskiej i kultury Afroamerykanów. W ostatnich badaniach koncentruje się na kulturowych aspektach wirtualności i obecności Polonii amerykańskiej i innych diaspor w cyberprzestrzeni.


https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5472-2875


Abstract

The article addresses the question of African inspirations in the works of African-American artists. In the poem Heritage Countee Cullen asks: “What is Africa to me?”. The question was also formulated by African-American intellectuals, social activists, and artists, in particular those associated with the Harlem Renaissance, becoming an important metaphor in formulating racial and artistic identity. The article traces this quest in selected literary works which echo the Dark Continent and supplements the discussion with examples of visual arts from this period inspired by Africa.

Keywords:

Harlem Renaissance; New Negro; African-American identity; literature; visual arts

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Published
2019-12-30



Zdzisław Głębocki 
Kolegium Literaturoznawstwa, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Zdzisław Głębocki, dr, adiunkt w Kolegium Literaturoznawstwa Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku. Jego zainteresowania naukowe obejmują szeroko pojętą antropologię kulturową ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem kultury amerykańskiej i kultury Afroamerykanów. W ostatnich badaniach koncentruje się na kulturowych aspektach wirtualności i obecności Polonii amerykańskiej i innych diaspor w cyberprzestrzeni.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5472-2875



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