American versions of modernalism

American Versions of Modernalisim

The lives of many African-Americans in the U.S. had not changed greatly consequent to the Civil War. It took several decades for black people to be accepted in society as equals to whites and only in the early 20th century have black people started to become recognized as people that should have had equal rights with any other race. When concerning literature, black people found that an imaginary wall stood between them and the community of writers.

Being black in the 1920s in the U.S. meant that one would have to struggle every day to prove that he or she was worthier than people normally expected an African-American to be. Whites often disregarded blacks and refrained from admitting any sign of talent when they saw it in a black man.

Zora Neal Hurston had been one of the few black writers that had the courage to come out during the period. On top of being black, she had also been a woman, which meant that she had even less chances of being appreciated in the literary movements.

Similar to other black writers from the period, Zora wrote about her life as a black woman struggling to receive understanding and acceptance in a white society, where men ruled. Also, she wrote about her life as a child, growing up in a world where blacks had been ignored and even hated. The worst thing about growing up as a black person in the 1920s in the U.S. was that black children were taught that if they wanted to succeed they had to behave like white people did. Blacks were generally led into believing that white men had been more intelligent and civilized and that by acting similarly to whites they would become more likely to integrate.

In "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" Zora speaks about the incidents encountered by a black person growing up in a white society. The spirit of rebellion brought by the Harlem Renaissance is proved as Zora accepts her fate without feeling sorry that she was born black. Moreover, she is confident that she is equal to whites and that differences are not what they used to be.

"Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery is sixty years in the past. The operation was successful and the patient is doing fine, thank you." (Hurston)

2. The 1920s have been crucial for U.S. writers that wanted to make a name for themselves and to be appreciated in a community which favored art and history. Several American writers chose to leave the country during the period as they considered U.S. citizens to be too ignorant when concerning literature.

John Reed has been one of the first revolutionary writers in the U.S. In the 1920's period. He had been appalled by the fact that the government did not support free speech. Moreover, he considered that the authorities had been fighting against the concept. The U.S. community did not show much interest for free speech either, with free speech supporters fighting a battle which had been virtually impossible to win.

The 1920s have been filled with incidents of people coming forward and wanting to fight the system. Unfortunately, many of those that dared to take action had been forced to become quiet, and several innocent had even been killed by the military or by angry extremist mobs. Rebellions did not have much success, with several striking workingmen having been captured and left to die in the desert. Large numbers of black people had been murdered at the time because of the fact that they were perceived to have a damaging effect to the white society because they robbed whites of their jobs and of their living space.

Some writers had been overwhelmed by the sudden changes brought by the Harlem Renaissance and they preferred writing about certain things which didn't involve it. Sometimes they chose to write about a place in the U.S. which had a special effect on them at some point of their lives.

3. Black people had not been the only ones struggling to receive credit for their writings during the 1920s, as it had been also hard for women to become appreciated in a majority of men writers. Despite having to fight the severe gender discrimination which existed during the period, many American women writers managed to become successful.

Bess Streeter Aldrich is one of the women who succeeded in getting a positive feed-back from a public that had not been accustomed with women writers. Aldrich's writing "A Lantern in Her Hand" had won her international recognition for having created a great literary work.

"A Lantern in Her Hand" is the story of Abbie Deal, who proves to possess an incredible amount of courage. Because of her courage she manages to overcome several perils that she encounters. Aldrich had most probably meant to make readers that have also gone through unfortunate events identify themselves with Abbie's character. Abbie constantly wants to evade all the events that a normal woman during the period has to go through. She rejects the thought of having to live a normal life, and, instead, she wishes to accomplish her dreams. Sadly, she passes near every opportunity that comes by and later regrets her lack of action. Abie is meant to prove to people that they should appreciate the good things in life and live for the moment.

Albrich's work clearly presents most of the elements which had been important during the period and "A Lantern in Her Hand" can easily be counted as one of the best U.S. writings from the period.

4. A lot of major events have happened in the first half of the 20th century, and the literary world has produced numerous works inspired by them. In the context of a modern radically changing society, John Reed had been furious that the American authorities did not do much to promote free-speech, and, that they didn't do much to support minorities or people in need of assistance.