"The Characteristics of Negro Expression” in "Colored Blues Singer" by Countee Cullen

 

    The Harlem Renaissance was a time of fruitful cultural and creative developments in the arts for African Americans. Many African American writers' motivations behind making their art was to break apart from white stereotypes that had shaped their views of their heritage. Zora Neale Hurston, a significant contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, wrote an essay titled “The Characteristics of Negro Expression” highlighting African American contributions to cultural art forms. Zora Neale Hurston discusses several elements in it like Negro Folklore and symmetry, but she emphasizes the use of drama, simile, and metaphor. Today, I will be looking at a poem from the period of the Harlem Renaissance, “Colored Blues Singer'' by Countee Cullen. 

     “Colored Blues Singer” is a poem about blues singers and the jazz music industry. Countee Cullen represents African American hardships through jazz singers and demonstrates the resilience and ability to harness racial pain into beautiful music. This poem exemplifies much of what Zora Neale Hurston talks about, especially the use of metaphors/similes and drama. For example, in the poem, Cullen uses a lot of personification and metaphors such as “But you go singing like the sea; Whose lover turns to land”. Though, I think the dramatization in the poem is most apparent. Throughout the poem, nothing is clear. It seems every line hides the true meaning and intentions through rich metaphors and fantastical language. I think this aligns with Zora Neale Hurston’s description of drama when she says, “Every phase of Negro life is highly dramatized. No matter how joyful or how sad the case there is sufficient poise for drama. Everything is acted out”. Countee Cullen illustrates  African Americans' struggles, but nowhere in the passage is that expression explicit. These descriptions of struggle come from descriptors such as “Such keenings tremble from the kraal” and analogies like “Somewhere Jeritza breaks her heart on symbols Verdi wrote''. When Zora Neale Hurston says drama, she does not mean dramatization or acting, she means an unintentional behavior to hide explicit meaning because of the history associated with African Americans. 

    I found this line particularly interesting: “His very words are action words”. Zora Neale Hurston explains that African-American writers tend to illustrate rather than explain because action comes before speech. She also explains that African Americans interpret the English language and words through pictures and hieroglyphics. Thus, many African-American writers use metaphors and stories in their writing. That idea is reflected in Colored Blues singers. When I read the poem, it felt similar to a fantastical story or even a fairytale. It did not seem realistic, and it utilized a lot of imagery and descriptive action words to paint a picture in the reader's mind. I can see this idea of pictures over words through Countee Cullen's word and phrase choices. Overall, I think that much of what Zora Neale Hurston talked about in her essay is apparent in Countee Cullen's "Colored Blues Singer" especially the elements of drama, metaphor, and simile. However, I do not think her essay applies to every literary work from the Harlem Renaissance because the origin of the Harlem Renaissance was for African-American writers to represent themselves authentically in their own way.