АНОТАЦИЯ
Език на текста: английски
The primary objective of this thesis is to emphasize on the significance of the female figures during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and the 1930s in the United States and to examine their contribution to the revival of African American culture within the period and thereafter. This is achieved through a comparative analysis of the biographical trajectories and select themes, motifs, etc. of the works of Zora Neale Hurston and Lois Mailou Jones. The text focuses on two powerful female voices whose multifaceted oeuvre allows for in-depth discussion of salient features of the cultural period on the one hand, and, on the other, projects connections between different forms of artistic expression: literature and the visual arts.
The thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, an appendix, and a bibliography.
Chapter 1 presents the goals, aims and expectations for the research project and provides a discussion of the Harlem Renaissance as a cultural period. Chapter 2 brings to the fore a description and comparison of Jones’s and e Hurston’s biographies. These dwell in turn on the aspects of their ethnic background, access to education, initial meetings and communication with notable figures of the Harlem Renaissance, who played an essential role in inspiring the authors’ creativity. The hypothesis is that significant life experiences find their expression in the creative works of both writers. At the same time, key influences that both had within the period account for the shared motifs I identify in juxtaposing a select sample of their creative output. Chapter 3 offers a more detailed analysis and personal interpretation of the chosen works by the two authors. The selection of which individual works to address was primarily governed by considerations of matching historical boundaries. In other words, the discussion focuses on samples that correspond to the timeframe of the Harlem Renaissance. The Conclusion summarizes what I have accomplished during the process of writing this research paper. The Appendix includes the samples of art by Lois Mailou Jones, which are used for the comparison and analysis in the chapters. The Bibliography lists the materials, which were gathered in order to become familiar with both authors’ lives, contributions, and achievements.
The Harlem Renaissance certainly marks the zenith of the development of Black people in the US in the 1920s and 1930s. For this reason, what the research project aimed to achieve is to shed light on the female figures with the inner power they possess and their personal stories that have set an example for the upcoming generations and have inspired many people to never give up on their dreams. Putting Zora Neale Hurston and Lois Mailou Jones side by side, allows me to amplify the female voices that contributed to the period of intellectual flourishing of the Black community. At the same time, due to their different expressive means one sees and may appreciate the multifaceted aspects of this cultural period.
Tags: американска литература, американско изобразително изкуство