The New Negro Renaissance and the Negritude Movement comprise two important bodies of literature. Much of the activity of the New Negro Renaissance took place in Harlem in the 1920s. The Negritude ...Movement flourished in Paris in the 1930s. Although they were all descendents of Africa, these writers lived on different continents at different times; one group spoke English and the other French. I wished to see whether a basic similarity existed in these works or whether few connections could be seen. By exploring the social milieu of these movements and reading the early literature of the artists, I found evidence of a consciousness shared by blacks in varying circumstances and times. The works of these two movements shared themes, images and sentiments. Further and most importantly, the writers associated closely. Within each group and between groups, the writers worked to establish and increase communication. This spirit of collectivity generated a new sense of community. Because of this communal spirit, the outpourings of these movements can best be understood by studying the joined effort of the artists, the journals and anthologies. This approach changes the focus of criticism of these movements from the consideration of individual personalities and their social interaction to the artistic products, and substitutes an internal literary emphasis for the traditional external criticism. My study traced the genesis and development of major journals between 1920 and 1950 from the United States, the Caribbean, and Paris. Pivotal volumes include the special Survey Graphic "Harlem" edition which Alain Locke edited and revised to the landmark The New Negro, Revue indigene which ushered Indigenism into Haiti, and La Revue du Monde Noir which spurred Legitime Defense and L'Etudiant Noir in Paris. The study of the journals proves the links between the organs and the movements themselves.
In an excerpt from "Open Papers: Essays of Odysseas Elytis," poets Arthur Rimbaud, Le Comte de Lautreamont, Paul Eluard, Pierre Jean Jouve, Federico Garcia Lorca, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Pierre ...Reverdy are discussed. Rimbaud managed one of spiritual creation's most difficult achievements--he raised what was below above.
