One distinctive mark of the great writing of the Harlem Renaissance includes the development of a creative voice that both explains Black history and pain and transforms this explanation into “High” art, despite its association with “Low” people. Some writers, such as Langston Hughes, attempt this transformation by seeking to elevate the sense of crudeness associated with blackness. In many ways, Hughes sets the standard for this distinctive mark: his writing consistently exhibits a voice that embraces the African-American experience through art in an act of glorification rather than shame. Throughout much of his poetry, Hughes uses an intelligent, perceptive grasp of language to elucidate the plight of the African-American and the shortcomings of anti-Black society. In addition, Hughes embraces human pain -- specifically Negro pain -- as a means of healing. In doing so, he develops a “Blues aesthetic” which incorporates both the reality of 1920s Harlem and an honest, gripping view of the human condition. Hughes’ use of this Blues aesthetic serves several functions; it brings an active quality to the complexities of pain and it allows a reality of human understanding to come alive in his poetry. Although White society tended to view Hughes’ appreciation of the folk as primitive, “Low” art because it was so base, the poignancy and immediacy with which it touched the lives of Harlem -- as well as the degree to which it still comprises an inextricable part of the literary world -- makes apparent the egregious error of this view. The intelligence and perceptive description in Hughes’ work effectively delineates the complexities of the African-American experience, thus elevating his writing to a state of “High” art. Similarly, his “Blues” pieces allow human struggles to exist as both poetic engagements of physical existence and healing processes in an...
