the concept of Negritude

[evanovitch]

Langston Hughes: The Concept of Negritude

Analytical Essay # 111849
Langston Hughes: The Concept of Negritude

<span style="font-weight: bold">An examination of the concept of Negritude through exoticism and racial conflicts, as portrayed in the poems of Langston Hughes.</span>
Written in 2008; 2,418 words; 10 sources; MLA; $ 73.95
<span style="font-weight: bold">Paper Summary:</span>
This paper discusses the writings of African-American poet, Langston Hughes. It specifically focuses on how he stressed in his works for the Negro to maintain their sense of African identity. The paper describes the concept of Negritude and discusses how Hughes makes <span style="font-weight: bold">sure Negritude is embedded in his poetry mainly through his portrayal of the positive exoticism versus racial conflicts in the United States of America.</span>


<span style="font-weight: bold">From the Paper:</span>
&quot;In the late 1950s into the early 1960s, Langston Hughes' poetry begins to discuss the prominence of drugs in the United States. Because they are a growing problem in the nation and Harlem in particular, Hughes seems to have felt the need to express his sorrow through his verse. However, unlike Hughes' Montage, his last decade or so of poetry resonates with the exotic and racial issues. But, instead of directly discussing these things as he has done in previous poems, Hughes connects them with the use of illegal substances in a sense which hints at his severe depression on the matter. Poems such as &quot;Lumumba's Grave&quot; (1961), &quot;Go Slow&quot; (1963), &quot;We, Too&quot; (1963), &quot;Junior Addict&quot; (1963), &quot;Northern Liberal&quot; (1963), and &quot;Slum Dreams&quot; (1964) are suggestive to the drug problem going on. In these poems, Hughes seems to remark that it is in portion due to the oppression of these people that has led them to this point in their lives. He attempts to allude to Africa in them seemingly in hopes of remembering a past pride, a pride that he feels they are letting go to waste.&quot;

[jah_yout]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

i disagree with it and here is why;

i don't think africans can be defined on the basis of a color...

the root of the word 'negro' is the color black...

but very few africans are actually black in color...nor are africans a monolith to be squeezed into one category or another to define their humanity...

there is no negritude, blankitude, morenitude, rojatude, amarillotude or any such thing...

do black-skinned indians share this 'negritude'?

or is their 'tude' something else? after all, it's not only africans who are 'black' in color, but indians, native australians, papua new guineans, solomon islanders, etc.

the first thing the senegalese president should have done was change his name from the horrid 'leopold'...

reminiscent of the belgian king leopold who was one of the worst devils to ever tek set pon africa...

i can't call his reign of terror 'blankitude' because it would generalize all whites on the basis of one so-called 'white' person's actions...

[evanovitch]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i disagree with it and here is why;

i don't think africans can be defined on the basis of a color...

the root of the word 'negro' is the color black...

but very few africans are actually black in color...nor are africans a monolith to be squeezed into one category or another to define their humanity...

there is no negritude, blankitude, morenitude, rojatude, amarillotude or any such thing...

do black-skinned indians share this 'negritude'?

or is their 'tude' something else? after all, it's not only africans who are 'black' in color, but indians, native australians, papua new guineans, solomon islanders, etc.

the first thing the senegalese president should have done was change his name from the horrid 'leopold'...

reminiscent of the belgian king leopold who was one of the worst devils to ever tek set pon africa...

i can't call his reign of terror 'blankitude' because it would generalize all whites on the basis of one so-called 'white' person's actions... </div></div>

read di articles no please...look outside di root word...u doing wat u decrying, u know

[Magician]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

You have to look at the time period the concept originated and by whom. In the early and mid 20th century, Senegal was under the colonial shackles of France. Having moved to France himself, Senghor looked for a way to unify the many colonised Africans in France and find common ground to fight the French colonial system, eventually leading to Senegals (and many other countries) independence in the 60's. He got a lot inspiration for his work from America.

While his ideology served a purpose in the anti-colonial fight, it would be foolish to apply it to the many diverse peoples around the world today, who have very little in common.

As a side note, his wife was oyinbo (aka mzungu).
Not that it has anything to do with this.

[Blackstar*]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

No offense intended, Magix, but I feel a way about a white man from a colonizing country telling people of color from formerly colonized countries which ideology they should or should not be applying.

[Magician]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

Gwaan feel a weh nuh.

[jah_yout]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i disagree with it and here is why;

i don't think africans can be defined on the basis of a color...

the root of the word 'negro' is the color black...

but very few africans are actually black in color...nor are africans a monolith to be squeezed into one category or another to define their humanity...

there is no negritude, blankitude, morenitude, rojatude, amarillotude or any such thing...

do black-skinned indians share this 'negritude'?

or is their 'tude' something else? after all, it's not only africans who are 'black' in color, but indians, native australians, papua new guineans, solomon islanders, etc.

the first thing the senegalese president should have done was change his name from the horrid 'leopold'...

reminiscent of the belgian king leopold who was one of the worst devils to ever tek set pon africa...

i can't call his reign of terror 'blankitude' because it would generalize all whites on the basis of one so-called 'white' person's actions... </div></div>

read di articles no please...look outside di root word...u doing wat u decrying, u know </div></div>

i read the article...

please tell me what i am decrying...

besides these guys came after garvey and howell &amp; dunkley who broke down what it means to be 'black' far better than these so-called intellectuals and their reactionary theories...

the fact that they coined a term like 'negritude' shows their relative naivete

[jah_yout]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magix</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
As a side note, his wife was oyinbo (aka mzungu).
Not that it has anything to do with this. </div></div>

you mean the guy that coined &quot;negritude&quot; has a white wife?

...and has king leopold's name...how special

[Wahalla]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

Wole Soljunka asked teh artistolian question.. Does a Tiger have Tigretude ? the tiger is a tiger....

[Blackstar*]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magix</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gwaan feel a weh nuh. </div></div> I see what you're like. Gwaan guh insult black people den. off.

I was trying to be polite and diplomatic yet honest. Apparently it was a waste of my time.

[franksterr]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

I can appreciate what the framers of negritude were trying to achieve, and can also point to places wher they are accurate in doing so. But I disagree with the premise on which it is based, which to put it in a nutshell is to use the weapons of colonialism against colonialism <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">&quot;Negritude is a process of negotiation which proposes a counter-myth or counter-reading of those traditional stereotypes with the aim of valorizing and celebrating the African personality&quot;</div></div>. We do not owe our former colonizers any explanation or there approval for who we are.
Race is not biological..but a political and cultural convention much like ones Nationality. All blacks are not Afrikan and all Europeans are not white. My race does not define my character or who I am or what I am capable of.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Senghor’s conception of Negritude holds that one’s inner and outer essence is informed, defined by one’s race. This position – that race is biological and informs one’s character</div></div> If one is living in a racist environment, then yes race will indeed influence and could help to define who you are, but thats a dysfunctional adaptation to a construed reality. A reality created to make you accept as true a lie.

In short to accept race as biological determinant in human relationships is to accept the lie of inherently different species of human beings. Concomittant with that lie is that as a result of these differences there are inferior(heathen)races who purpose is to serve - by dint of their mental deficiency...... superior (chosen) races.

[franksterr]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

This is cultural imperialism through incremental adulterization made palatable <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It was around this time that Senghor formed the belief that blacks could benefit by assimilating European culture without severing themselves from their own cultural origins. He promulgated a return to historical and cultural sources through the cultivation of indigenous languages and traditions, and sought to instantiate this value system through the vocabulary, themes, and symbolism of his published poetry.</div></div>

[Magician]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magix</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gwaan feel a weh nuh. </div></div> I see what you're like. Gwaan guh insult black people den. off.

I was trying to be polite and diplomatic yet honest. Apparently it was a waste of my time. </div></div>

It was a waste of your time to judge me and imply I can't voice my opinion on the subject, instead of reasoning about what I said.
Get off your pedestal and read for that's written and not who wrote it. &lt;kissteet&gt;

[blugiant]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: franksterr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is cultural imperialism through incremental adulterization made palatable <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It was around this time that Senghor formed the belief that blacks could benefit by assimilating European culture without severing themselves from their own cultural origins. He promulgated a return to historical and cultural sources through the cultivation of indigenous languages and traditions, and sought to instantiate this value system through the vocabulary, themes, and symbolism of his published poetry.</div></div> </div></div>

hegelian assumpshan dat ignore dat de kultural origin aff oyinbo kulture iss afrikka stolen legacee

[Magician]

Re: Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Concept of Negritude

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magix</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
As a side note, his wife was oyinbo (aka mzungu).
Not that it has anything to do with this. </div></div>

you mean the guy that coined &quot;negritude&quot; has a white wife?

...and has king leopold's name...how special </div></div>

Well is not his fault his parents gave him a fool fool name, but he did pick his wife.

Which disproves his theory even further, because a person is shaped greatly by the surrounding culture in which he grow and live, and not by the blood that flows in your veins. You take a French baby to China and raise it by the Chinese and it will be very much a Chinese baby.