Racial and class identities bear a tremendous influence on how literature is written and read. The influence of racial and class identity on literature is exemplified in the works of authors Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, two prominent poets during the Harlem Renaissance.
The impact of the two authors’ racial and class identities on their work is evident in Hughes’ essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” and Cullen’s poem “Yet Do I Marvel” which deal with the issue of social and intellectual segregation based on racial identities.
Despite their similar themes, however, Hughes and Cullen present very different realities of African American artists and provide contrasting accounts of the difficulties these artists confront because of their racial and class identities.
On the surface, Langston Hughes’ short work and Countee Cullen’s poem appear to be very similar in terms of their focus on the role of racial identity in an artist’s life and work. In these works, the authors provide the audience with similar metaphors to describe how racial discrimination becomes an obstacle for African American artists.
Hughes refers to the “racial mountain” that African American artists must overcome in order to “build our temples for tomorrow” (Hughes,__) while Cullen uses the metaphor of Sisyphus’ eternal “struggle up a never-ending stair” (Cullen, __)to describe the travails of being an African American artist whose literary genius is often ignored and unrewarded even in his own community.
Hence, both of the authors’ works reflect the prevailing social structure as both a source of oppression and repression among colored artists.
A deeper analysis of the two authors’ literary pieces reveals a sharp contrast in the way that Hughes and Cullen explore the theme of racial identity and inequality. The most conspicuous difference is in the bias used by the authors in dealing with the issue of racism. It is evident that Hughes takes on the issue of racial bias and stereotyping against African American with a critical stance.
He writes in the opening sentences of “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” that the “mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America” (Hughes __) is the impulse within African American artists to surrender to dominant literary and artistic conventions set and decided by Whites.
Based on this assumption, Hughes argues that African American artists will only be able to hurdle “the racial mountain” by defying conventions based on “American standardization” and going beyond established African American stereotypes. (__) In contrast, Cullen’s poem, while implicitly referring to the role of racial identity in his struggles as a writer and poet, conceals any hint of racial bias apart from his acknowledgement of his identity as Black poet.
Instead, Cullen attempts to establish his faith in the system by emphasizing his belief in a good and well-meaning God although he marvels at what God has done.
Further investigation would reveal that Hughes and Cullen’s work significantly differ in their perspectives. Hughes’ work attempts to establish the racial identity of African American artists as inseparable to their work.
He argues that African American artists should not look at their racial identity and heritage as something to be ashamed of. (Hughes, __) On the contrary, African American artists should draw upon the rich and unique experiences of the African American identity in creating art and literature that are as distinct and as exceptional as the African American culture.
On the other hand, Cullen considers his racial identity and his identity as an artist to be a contradiction. He laments in his poem of the “inscrutable” God who, despite “being good, well-meaning, and kind,” is at the same time “awful” for making “a poet black.” (Cullen __)
His view of the African American identity as resembling a curse is also made apparent by the use of the allegory of mythical figures Tantalus and Sisyphus to illustrate the torture and hardship of poets who, with God’s random nature, were born Black.
A deeper analysis shows that the two works are different in terms of narrative or in how they address the limitations, restrictions, and suppression of African American artists. For Hughes, the biggest problem besetting African American artists is their inability to appreciate their identities and the culture these carry.
In turn, African American artists effectively limit, restrict, and suppress their own expression to meet social expectations from both the African American and the White people. For Cullen, however, it is this very identity of the artist, his being “black” that limits and restricts his ability to express his ideas, putting him in a condition similar to “tortured Tantalus,” who is baited but never rewarded with “the fickle fruit.”
As a result of the contrasting ways in which the two poets approach the theme of racism and racial inequality, Hughes and Cullen provide dissimilar portraits of African American realities in a society that is divided not only by racial differences but also class-based segregation. Hughes notes, for instance, how the upper-class African Americans employ the same racist stereotypes used by Whites to discriminate against poor African Americans to establish their own sense of superiority over the latter.
Hence, rich African Americans contribute to the perpetuation of the racial system by aspiring for an individual and collective identity that is as close to White as possible. According to Hughes, African American artists who come from the upper class usually implement self-censure either by avoiding the discussion of racial identity or by faithfully subscribing to conventions and styles used by Whites.
It is in this aspect that Hughes’ short work could be seen as a criticism to Cullen’s racial snobbery, given the latter’s preference for the conventional, Western mode of poetry that is evidenced in his poem. Cullen’s snobbery is further illustrated in Cullen’s use of Western mythical figures in the poem, which suggests his identification with what Hughes calls “nordic identity” instead of people of his own color.
Consequently, the two pieces deliver different messages to their audiences. Hughes’ short work is deliberately aimed at engaging the reader in a critical reflection on the impact of racial and class inequality on African American artists.
He exhorts his audience, presumably African American writers, to shed their fear and their shame of their racial identity. Hughes encourages African American artists to stop censuring themselves from genuine expression because of the perceived inferiority of their culture and ideas in order to contribute to the development of an outstanding body of African American literature.
Meanwhile, Cullen’s poem is clearly meant to tell audiences that, indeed, African American artists can write poetry but they are often unrecognized for their efforts because of the prevailing prejudice against their racial identities.
Hughes’ essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” and Cullen’s literary piece “Yet Do I Marvel” are only similar in the over-all theme of racial discrimination and inequality but clearly present divergent viewpoints on the impact of racial identity on artists and their work.
These dissimilarities reflect the influence of racial and class identities of the two authors in the way that they create literature and the messages that their works deliver to the African American community, which is clearly based on their perception of the effect of their own works on other artists and society as a whole.
Works Cited:
Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” The Nation Website. 3 May 2008. <http://www.thenation.com/doc/19260623/hughes>.
Cullen, Countee. “Yet Do I Marvel.” PoetryFoundation.org. 3 May 2008 <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171320>
