Toomer, Jean. (1894 - 1967).
L i f e
- of mixed racial origin > preoccupied with his ‘racial composition and position’
- married twice, in both cases to white women, and in the first to a descendant of A. Bradstreet
- thought of as an outstanding example of the ‘New Negro’ in literature
- x but: later left for France to study philophy
- reproached for his leaving Harlem by L. Hughes & others
W o r k
- a poet, fiction writer, playwright, and essayist
- a contributor to the leading Afro-American journals The Crisis and Opportunity, and to experimental magazines
Cane (1923):
- an experimental modernist masterpiece
- an intermixture of poetry, prose, and plays
- an obvious inspiration in folk song, folktales, and the Afro-American patterns of speech
- a celebration of the physical, psychic, and aesthetic freedom
- conclusion: the triumph of exotic and primitive impulses over the tyranny of culture
- praised by S. Anderson and H. Crane
Blue Meridian (1936):
- a long poem trying to find an artistic solution for racial problems
Quote
"And there, a field rat, startled, squealing bleeds,
His belly close to ground. I see the blade,
Blood-stained, continue cutting weeds and shade".
From "Reapers".
Basics
(Photo: Famous Poets & Poems com).
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Author
Nathan Pinchback Toomer. Aka Jean Toomer. (1894 - 1967). African-American. -
Work
Poet. Playwright. Fiction writer. Figure of the Harlem Renaissance. -
Genres
Modernism. Afro-American topics. Folklore.
Literature
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.
Bercovitch, Sacvan, ed. The Cambridge History of American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Cunliffe, Marcus. The Literature of the United States. London: Penguin, 1991.
Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lexington: D. C. Heath, 1994.
McQuade, Donald, gen.ed. The Harper American Literature. New York: Harper & Collins, 1996.
Ruland, Richard, Malcolm Bradbury. Od puritanismu k postmodernismu. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1997.
Vančura, Zdeněk, ed. Slovník spisovatelů: Spojené státy americké. Praha: Odeon, 1979.