Identity In The Poetry Of Langston Hughes
...literature we find no
simple or definite explanation. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted
that it is rooted in the reality of the discriminatory social system in
America with its historic origins in the institution of slavery. One can
discern that this slavery system imposes a double burden on the Negro
through severe social and economic inequalities and through the heavy
psychological consequences suffered by the Negro who is forced to play an
inferior role, 1 the latter relates to the low self-estimate, feeling
of helplessness and basic identity conflict. Thus, in some form or the
other, every Negro American is confronted with the question of `where
he is' in the prevailing white society. The problem of Negro identity
has various dimensions like the colour, community and class.
The inescapable reality of the Negro existence in America is colour
which is inherent in the concept of self, manifest in race-consciousness.2
This is significant because a Negro establishes his identity with
other individuals, known or unknown, on the basis of a similarity of colour
and features, thus making his racial group membership the nexus of his
self identity.3 In 1915, the Association for the study of Negro life
and history made special endeavours to convince the Negroes that they
could never acquire respectability in society if they despised their
history and looked upon themselves as inferior. It was felt that "the
American Negro must remake its past in order to make his future."4
After the Negro began to search his identity in the glorious past-his
heritage and his folk tradition, he began to feel proud of his black
wholesome colour. Langston Hughes has been given the credit for nourishing
the black sensibility and inspiring it to create Afro-American
literature and transforming it into a literature of struggle.5...
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