Negro fiction came into its own in 1923
with Jean Toomer's publication "Cane", and, in 1924, with Jessie
Redman Fauset's "There is Confusion". These works dealt with
Negroes as people and not merely as objects to be manipulated for
racial propaganda. Langston Hughes, in 1930, published "Not Without
Laughter", a novel to gain wide renown.
To catalog all the authors of the Negro Renaissance would become
tedious. However, all the poets and novelists listed within
these pages are generally accepted as having gained a place among
America's significant writers. They were more than products of
an Afro-American subculture; their work became part of the
mainstream of American literature. These authors, along with
other Negro artists, gained the respect of American art and
literary critics. With them, the Afro-American folk culture made
its way into the formal art of the nation.
The Negro Renaissance of the 1920s, however, was more than a
literary movement. There was, as had been noted earlier, a vast
outpouring of musical creativity. Besides the jazz composers and
performers, many made their mark in classical concert music.
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