Representation of African American identity in the works of Langston Hughes

ABSTRACT 1920s, defined as Harlem Renaissance constituted an era that the blacks in the United States expressed themselves via creating unique and original works in literature and art. During this period, also known as the jazz age (or the jazz era), the black people, who came to the north during the First World War by internal migration, formed an intense population in the Harlem region of New York. African Americans have been able to express their identities through literature, art and music within the structure of wealth and consumption society in post-war America. In parallel with this, this period, which is defined as the Harlem Renaissance, has taken an important place in American Literature and has been a reference for the African American literature to have an identity in the institutional sense. Langston Hughes, one of the most distinguished representatives of this period, and his works have been selected as the primary research subject of this thesis. One of the most important reasons for including Langston Hughes in this study is that, besides being one of the first African Americans to represent American modernism, his literary identity and writings include wide range of works, not only confined with poetry or short stories, but also extended to novel and drama. This thesis aims to analyze the works of Hughes by focusing on the concept of language, identity and representation and reflect the African Americans in American society within the context of literature-culture connection. However, it would be useful to emphasize that Hughes' political identity is not only in literature or art, but is prevalent in the modern era of America as well. Key Words: African American Literature, Langston Hughes, Harlem Renaissance, Jazz Age, American Literature