A salon is defined as a gathering of people in order to entertain or educate the participants. Many times, those involved were philosophers, authors, and artists. Here is an article specific to Salons during the Harlem Renaissance.
Below are some questions to consider and research for discussion:
- "Black Propaganda": Literature of the Harlem Renaissance: Arna Bontemps divided the Harlem Renaissance into two distinct phases: The Propaganda Phase (1921 - 1924) and the Publication Phase (1924 - 1931). This entry by (available in Bloom's Literature) describes those two periods, as well as gives an overview to the literature of the time.
- Art and its use: artistic expression, response to conditions of oppression, political movement
- The shift to "high art" in black writing, versus the use of folk idioms and vernacular traditionally used in African American writing. For example, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen (as well as many other authors) had artistic differences. Cullen believed that African Americans need not racialize poetry, and should be free to write in mainstream traditions. Hughes, on the other hand, saw this as a betrayal to the African American identity.
- The place of African Americans in American life and the role / identity of African American artists.
- Economic, political, and social events or conditions that made the Harlem Renaissance possible.
- Was the Harlem Renaissance a success, or failure?