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They're both brilliant writers. Naipaul writes stuff to enjoy reading and learn something at the same time. Wolcott is pedantic and obtuse. There used to be a little bookstore in Castries, St. Lucia, where Wolcott is from, he's at Boston University, unless he retired, the owner would talk for hours about Wolcott.
Zora Neale Hurston and James Baldwin both had amazing lives. There seems to be a revival of interest in the Harlem Renaissance in my area, especially Hurston.
I am fascinated by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. I find Nella Larsen particularly interesting...i guess because of the mystery surrounding her early life.
I am fascinated by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. I find Nella Larsen particularly interesting...i guess because of the mystery surrounding her early life.
Her life circumstances and subject matter resonate with me too, but I didn't know there was a mystery. Copenhagen or Fisk?
Her life circumstances and subject matter resonate with me too, but I didn't know there was a mystery. Copenhagen or Fisk?
Many writers believed that her novels were semiautobiographical. So, they tried to piece together her life based on bits and pieces in her novels Quicksand and Passing. Larsen told a lot of "half truths" about her life, i guess she was trying to mask the reality of her difficult childhood.
Copenhagen is definitely one, some believe that she did not visit or live in Denmark during her early years. There is some mystery surrounding her father's heritage. In addition, i have read that her parents actually passed and Peter Larsen was actually Peter Walker (her father).
Last edited by yydanay515; 01-17-2008 at 09:18 AM..
I have long had an interest in Alain Locke and I post here from a journal, the Baha'i Studies Review(2002), a paragraph from an article on Locke. The article can be googled at: "Alain Locke: Baha'i Philosopher."-Ron Price, Tasmania
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As “ philosophical mid-wife to a generation of younger Negro poets, writers and artists,” Alain Locke was the ideological mastermind behind the Harlem Renaissance, “ an artistic explosion in the decade following World War I.” In its mythic and utopian sense, Harlem was the “ race capital” and the largest “ Negro American” community in the world. The Harlem Renaissance, consequently, presented itself as a microcosm or “ self-portraiture” of black culture to America and to the world. The movement was an effusion of art borne of the experience of “ even ordinary living” that has “ epic depth and lyric intensity.” As editor of the anthology known as The New Negro, published in December 1925,94 Locke contributed the title essay, which served as a manifesto. For Locke, art ought to contribute to the improvement of life— a pragmatist aesthetic principle Richard Shusterman calls “meliorism.” The Harlem Renaissance— known also as the “ New Negro Movement” — sought to advance freedom and equality for blacks through art. It was “ not just a great creative outburst in the stimulating atmosphere of the 1920s,” it was “ actually a highly self-conscious modern artistic movement.” Locke himself spoke of a “ race pride,” “ race genius” and the “ race-gift.” This “ race pride” was to be cultivated through developing a distinctive culture, a hybrid of African and African American elements. Locke had hoped the Harlem Renaissance would provide“ an emancipating vision to America” and would advance “ a new democracy in American culture.” But the Harlem Renaissance was more of an “ aristocratic” than democratic....check this article out. It's 45 pages long.-Ron
Last edited by RonPrice; 05-25-2008 at 09:58 PM..
Reason: to correct a spelling error
I am also fascinated by Miss Larsen. She was a great writer and led a most interesting life. Check out George Hutchinson's bio on her. Another read that is good is the one by Larson (no relation I think). Those are by far the most informative. And in Hutchinson's work, he discovered that a lot of the so-called "half-truths" that Larsen said about herself were indeed truths.
People accused her of lying about trips to Copenhagen and completing the NY Public Library certificate program. He was able to find records that proved otherwise. She had indeed gone to Copenhagen twice so the details she used in her books particularly Quicksand, were indeed based a lot on her observations and experiences.
Her life was very sad, or at least the end of it. It was surrounded by mystery and she died very lonely and isolated. There was also talk of drug (pill) and alcohol abuse from those closest to her.
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Writers of the Harlem Renaissance: Alain Locke
