Poetry, Desire, and Fantasy in the Harlem Renaissance

In this groundbreaking work, Raphael Comprone uses psychoanalysis to reinvigorate Harlem Renaissance studies. This book examines the works of notable Harlem Renaissance authors such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Nella Larsen, George Schuyler, Wallace Thurman, and Claude McKay. In detailed, focused sections, Poetry, Desire, and Fantasy in the Harlem Renaissance explores issues of white subjectivity in the works of Hughes and Hurston, the embrace of primitivism by Claude McKay, musings on racial transformation and racial hierarchies, and the decline of the Harlem Renaissance. This comprehensive and fresh study not only questions, but also illuminates the relationship between fantasy, language, and desire during the Harlem Renaissance.