Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Introduction
Literature serves as a mirror of society, capturing events in a fictionalized form; the purpose of literature is to inform, educate, and connect people. It enables individuals to express their emotions and thoughts; this catharsis improves individuals. Reading literature allows people to connect personally and discover meaning in life. There are numerous literary periods, including colonial, romantic, realism and naturalism, modernist, and contemporary. Literature reflects society, and its content must be expressed visually. Tradition is regarded as the most significant contribution to the poetic world because it aids in expressing this thought. Different poets have varying perspectives on how it should be described. This paper aims to compare and contrast Langston Hughes’ poetry and T.S Elliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ in the light of their contributions to tradition and the Negro artist and racial mountain.
The 1900s are regarded as a golden age of writing; it is referred to as a period of self-expression. Arts and literature have historically been an essential means of expressing human thoughts and ideas. This period resulted in the birth of T.S. Elliot and Langston Hughes, who shared numerous similarities and distinctions (Gupta 33). These parallels include that both are outstanding contemporary writers who have significantly influenced and shaped America’s reading culture (Gupta 33). Both left the United States of America and learned to write poetry by reading other people’s work, and both resided in Missouri at one point.
Langston and Eliot were raised differently; Langston Hughes was raised by his grandmother following his parent’s divorce when he was ten years old. Hughes adored jazz music, which profoundly affected his ideologies and worldview (Fernández-Alonso et al. 1). Furthermore, Langston attended college for a year before traveling to Africa and then returning to Europe. As an African American, this greatly influenced his style of writing (Fernández-Alonso et al. 1). Hughes had a significant impact on the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, which was primarily focused on working-class African Americans. Eliot thinks that a poet needs self-sacrifice to obtain this unique understanding of the past. Once attained, this understanding will obliterate any evidence of identity from the poem, as the artist will have devolved into a mere means for communication (Gupta 33). Eliot illustrates how a competent author’s mind functions as a receptacle for ideas, words, and sentiments joined under deep focus to develop a new artist sensation.
Langston and Eliot also differed ideologically; T.S. Elliot focused primarily on the loss suffered by the American culture due to surviving a post-colonial war, a spiritual loss that resulted in the community’s loss of moral values. Following the First World War, the effects of war distorted nature’s beauty. The war impacted nature and beauty, and Elliot’s writings portrayed the hope that followed a significant loss (Gupta 35).
Hughes was preoccupied with the racial discrimination that African-Americans faced in America (Fernández-Alonso et al. 3). His writings primarily urged black people not to despair in the face of discrimination.
The African-American Artist versus the Racial Mountain
Elliot believes that poetry must be impersonal, whereas Hughes argues that an individual defines poetry. Langston focused on a poet wishing to write more subtly as a white poet (Fernández-Alonso et al. 1). Hughes contended that this is a way of ignoring one’s cultural heritage to be likable. He portrayed the black man in society and the white supremacy (Fernández-Alonso et al. 1). Additionally, Hughes described how parents unintentionally compelled their children to behave a certain way.
As a result, it instills inferiority in the poet’s mind, making it difficult to appreciate the beauty of his culture. Wealthy Negros attempt to mimic whites while the low Negro will be natural, with artistic characteristics that reflect the culture of his people (Gupta 36). Langston demonstrates how a woman-owned bar in Philadelphia refused to hire a black woman to sing the folk song (Gupta 36). Instead, they hired a white woman and persuaded the artists to accept and express themselves as unapologetically black self-acceptance is necessary for artistic and cultural freedom.
Hughes believes this and proposes that the Black community maintain their authentic narratives in the absence of support. There is no support when they write literature enticing to the white or genuine article (Fernández-Alonso et al. 5). Therefore, this had a significant impact on the concept of the racial mountain. Elliot primarily argued for the timeless nature of art and its expression (Gupta 34). Secondly, he believes that poetry is an escape from personality, not an indication of it. This perspective is what motivates a poet to create and mature in their poetic rendition. This aspect is what motivates a poet to develop universal principles. According to Elliot, a person is distinct from their work, whereas Langston believes the two are inextricably linked (Gupta 34). Therefore, according to Elliot, authenticity occurs when we are impersonal in art.
Thirdly, Elliot defines tradition as the pastness and presence of the past. Additionally, he believes that an individual should be well versed in all facets of European history (Gupta 35). Elliot modeled his work after James Joyce’s use of ancient myths in his novel Ulysses (Cramer 22). The poem examines the aftermath of the war and how degrading it was for the community (Cramer 22). It looks at the land’s inability to sustain life and the moral degradation that man has endured due to their desire to live carelessly and without regard for morality. In his book The Abandoned Land, Eliot claims that ‘Her lover, too, is mentally exhausted and believes they are ‘in a rat’s alley where the dead men’s bones were lost’ (Gupta 33). On the other hand, tradition conveys the essence of comparing an individual to other artists who have passed away. While the past can define the present, the past cannot be determined. Each poem, then, must be written with timelessness in mind. Act one of The Waste Land begins by examining April as the cruelest month; the after-effects of war also linger (Gupta 34). April is portrayed as the best month in Jessie Weston’s 1920 book, From Ritual to Romance (Weston 20). Therefore, there seems to be a difference in the portrayal of April between Eliot and Weston.
Hughes uses the individual’s history, specifically his African American ancestry, to communicate his poetry to the world. Elliot’s concept is the consciousness of telling a great story without being personal (Gupta 36). This knowledge of the past contributes to the development of better stories as a result of literature awareness. Individual works can only be compared to the works of other deceased poets. Fourth, Elliot believes that poetry is an escape from personality, not its expression (Gupta 36). This perspective is what motivates a poet to create and mature in their poetic rendition. This aspect is what motivates a poet to develop universal principles. Elliot’s position was criticized because past narratives cannot bind people, and each generation has its way of rendering stories. It captures the essence of judging an individual based on the work of deceased artists. While the past can define the present, history cannot be explained. Each poem, then, must be written with timelessness in mind.
Elliot is opposed to Langston Hughes’ belief in romanticism, original creation, and inspiration. Langston argues that the combination of our individual experiences and an idealized view of the world make for an influential poem (Fernández-Alonso et al. 10). Elliot believes that a contemporary writer must write with the authority of Homer and Shakespeare (Gupta 36). Therefore, this influenced Shakespeare’s work, endowing him with a sense of timelessness as a student of both Jacobean and Elizabethan social and political attitudes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the various changes in literature have served as a teaching point because by documenting the past, individuals can connect their humanity to their forefathers and mothers. Human emotions and experiences must be expressed in writing to be released. We achieve meaning through the expression of our feelings. Both poets concur on the importance of expressing thoughts and ideas through writing. Though their ideologies are opposed, Langston Hughes and T. S Elliot have significantly impacted contemporary literature and shaped American views. The arguments about tradition and how it influences individual talent have resulted in constructing stories from our past while simultaneously creating new ones and remaining timeless.
Works Cited
Cramer, Jesse Grant. Letters of Ulysses S. Grant to His Father and His Youngest Sister. Outlook Verlag, 2020.
Fernández-Alonso, Alba, and María Amor Barros-Del Río. ‘Gender and Race in Langston Hughes’ Poetry of the Spanish Civil War’. Journal of Gender Studies, 2021, pp. 1-13.
Gupta, Sandeep Kumar. “TS Eliot and His ‘The Waste Land’.” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Education Analysis and Development, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021, pp. 33-36.
Weston, Jessie L. From Ritual to Romance. Princeton University Press, 2021.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.