Langston Hughes and the Blues
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: May 17, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 328
ISBN-13: 9780252069857
Subjects: Language, Literature And Biography; Music; Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967; Literature - Classics / Criticism; English; Poetry; USA; American - African American; American - African American & Black; Poetry / History & Criticism; Genres & Styles - Blues; American - General
First sentence: It is no coincidence that the commercial recording of blues music by African-American performers and the cultural/artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance began at roughly the same time.
Description: "Drawing on a deep understanding of the shades and structures of the blues, Steven C. Tracy elucidates the vital relationship between this musical form and the art of Langston Hughes, preeminent poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Tracy provides a cultural context for the poet's work and shows how Hughes mined African-American oral and literary traditions to create his blues-inspired poetry.

Through a detailed comparison of Hughes's poems to blues texts, Tracy demonstrates how the poetics, structures, rhythms, and musical techniques of the blues are reflected in Hughes's experimental forms. The volume also includes a discography of recordings by the blues artists - Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and others - who most influenced Hughes, updated in a new introduction by the author."--BOOK JACKET.