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The Renaissance of African American Art and Culture Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Hoopla in Harlem! the Renaissance of African American Art and Culture: A Rhetorical Criticism of Artists as Social Activists during the 1920's and 30's; Engaging the Philosophical Discourse of Kenneth Burke Gregory Anthony Tillman Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES HOOPLA IN HARLEM! THE RENAISSANCE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART AND CULTURE: A RHETORICAL CRITICISM OF ARTISTS AS SOCIAL ACTIVISTS DURING THE 1920’S AND 30’S; ENGAGING THE PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE OF KENNETH BURKE By GREGORY ANTHONY TILLMAN A Dissertation submitted to the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Gregory Anthony Tillman on October 31, 2005 ______________________________ Marilyn J. Young Professor Directing Dissertation ______________________________ Antoine Spacagna Outside Committee Member ______________________________ David Darst Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved The above named committee members. ii This Dissertation is dedicated to the loving memory of my Grandmother, the late Sophie Anderson Hampton and to my mother, the late Theresa Hampton Tillman. Thanks for nurturing me and giving me the love I needed to be successful. You both knew I would always get the Ph.D., but when? It is only in God’s Time, as it was God’s time for you Grandma Sophie and you Mamma Theresa to pass on to your heavenly home in Gloryland. This dedication is in your memory. With Great regards, your Grandson and your Son, Gregory Anthony Raymond Tillman . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract v Chapter 1 Introduction, Rhetoric of Oppression, 1 Rhetoric of Protest, Harlem, The Period Methodology Chapter 2 Protest, Harlem Renaissance Writers 27 Chapter 3 Protest, Harlem Renaissance Dancers & Musicians 52 Chapter 4 Protest, Harlem Renaissance Actors & Filmakers 73 Chapter 5 Conclusions, 98 Harlem Renaissance Artists as Activists A Burkeian Analysis Will race be the greatest problem of the 21st. Century ? Solutions/ Future Implications Diversity, Multiculturalism Global Village Biblography 105 Biographical Sketch 115 iv ABSTRACT Harlem glittered as one on the world’s most vivid entertainment centers during the 1920’s and 30’s. Nightlife revolved around The Cotton Club, Smalls Paradise and The Savoy Ballroom; featuring floor shows headlining glamorous African American women and whiskey unavailable in downtown Greenwich Village clubs. African American Artists during the Harlem Renaissance were Social Activists, making a significant contribution to black culture and aesthetics. Creating the notions of Black Identity, Black Consciousness and Black Pride Sustained these Artists as Activists in the face of adversity and placed “The New Negro” on the global artistic scene. Dr. Alain Locke wrote the manifesto for “The New Negro” movement and W.E.B. DuBois was the harbinder to lead a cadre of African American Artists to Harlem, their creative promised land. From the world of literature, Jessie Fauset and James Weldon Johnson; From the world of dance and music, Kaherine Dunham and Marian Anderson; From the world of theatre and film, Paul Robeson and Oscar Micheaux. This dissertation examines these Artists as Activists and their works as symbols of social protest, engaging the philosophical discourse of Kenneth Burke. v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Research Problem & Justification of Importance The dawn of the twentieth century in the United States brought about increasing racial conflict and great moral controversy. W.E.B. DuBois argued that the “color line” would be the biggest social and moral issue for America during the twentieth century. African Americans demanded simple freedom, liberation and equal treatment. Instead, they received lynching and mob violence. The nonviolent marches and boycotts during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s signaled the beginning of African American protests against racial injustices. Out of the ashes and fire of lynched African Americans rose a great “Phoenix” of social protest, William Edward Burghardt DuBois. During the Harlem Renaissance the sociological interpretation of race took precedence and became firmly entrenched in the American mindset. Race is linked to racism and to the idea of white versus black. This sociological context of race is evident from the moment the first slave touched American soil. Race in this context is rooted in racialism, the belief that racial differences result from black inferiority and white superiority. Blacks have not simply been treated unfairly; they have been subjected first to decades of slavery, then to decades of second- class citizenship, massive legalized discrimination, economic persecution, educational deprivation and cultural stigmatization; they have been killed, beaten, raped, bought, sold, excluded, exploited, shamed, and scorned. Yet they have become increasingly successful against the odds. 1 The rhetoric of oppression, constructed by mainstream society during the 1920s, continues to negate the humanity of African Americans. The rhetoric of oppression is crafted to maintain eurocentric economic hegemony. Hence, with urgency, the rhetoric of protest is crafted to dismantle the constructed, stereotypical, ethnocentric myths. Because of the peculiar institution of slavery, African American rhetors (speakers, a term from the field of communication) created protest rhetoric to respond to oppression. Crafting the rhetoric of resistance to respond to the rhetoric of oppression; gives credence to an oratorical and elocutionary movement of African American protest rhetoric during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. African American language is rooted in an oral tradition and because it has grown out of a sociopolitical and cultural climate unlike that experienced by any other ethnic group. As Hoyt Fuller states, “African American Culture is the aesthetic record of our sojourn here, reflecting as all literatures do, the core concerns of a people.” 1 The language used in African American culture reflects the African American experience and therefore, is rhetorically unique. One reason for this uniqueness is that as the myriads of African tribes with different dialects met on American soil, they had to find a common language communicating their needs and fears. These Blacks attempted to build a type of nationality via language. As their rebellious attitude grew, the newcomers found it expedient to devise a communication system that would be meaningful to other African Americans but not understood by whites. Hence, it was necessary to take the “master’s” language and to manipulate it to suit their own needs.” 2 Blacks often changed the meaning of a word completely to mask their true feelings. This alteration of language by slaves has persisted through the ages, and even today this double talk/ signification persists. African American speech, is used as a defense 2 mechanism and as an articulation of the revolutionary spirit of protest. Grace Holt contends that, “African Americans’ use of metaphor is an outgrowth of their attempt at survival dealing with racist White America.”3 Accordingly, it was natural that this rhetorical strategy of changing the spoken word would find its way into written language, especially African American protest literature. Thus, it is this kind of linguistic strategy—the altering of language— as well as classical rhetorical devices that I will examine in the protest rhetoric of DuBois and the Artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Richard Barksdale and Kenneth Kinnamon make a definitive statement about the themes of African American culture from 1915 to 1945. The dominant theme, they claim, “was racial affirmation from 1915-1930, and from 1930-45 the dominant theme was radical racial protest.”4 The first definition given in Webster’s New World Dictionary for both words “protest” and “affirm” is basically the same: to state positively, to affirm solemnly (for “protest”) and to declare firmly (for “affirm”). Then the second definition for “protest” is to make objections; to speak strongly against. The basic meaning in the “public domain” is that protest rhetoric is that rhetoric which makes objections to the status quo. Furthermore, the division between protest and affirmation is weakened more if one considers the fact that if a person has to affirm his existence, his culture, then he is protesting to the person who wishes to deny his existence, or culture “when a person is denied that which is his, he objects strongly by declaring firmly, according to Ralph Ellison, “I am what I am.”5 Although the denotative meanings are similar, a split is created between the connotative interpretation of the words “protest” and “affirmation”. Larry Neal clarifies the definition this way. “Now any Black man who adheres to the white aesthetic, and who directs his work toward a white audience is protesting.”6 3 According to Don L. Lee (A.K.A.) Haki Madhubuti, an African American civil rights rhetor attempts to raise the level of consciousness among African Americans. Madhubuti describes protest as rhetoric which is a reaction to persons or events and often necessary to motivate and move people. As African American rhetors rejected Western aesthetics
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