Although the literature of the Harlem Renaissance typically invokes urban themes, some writers situated their works in rural settings of the...

While the literature of the Harlem Renaissance at times included urban themes, rural themes from southern Black history also surfaced in the works of the Harlem Renaissance. For example, Langston Hughes's The Weary Blues (1926) was inspired by southern Black culture. Hughes's writing was heavily influenced by the rhythm of blues and jazz--cultural traditions that northern Blacks brought with them from the south during the Great Migration. The literature of the Harlem Renaissance focused on Black identity, and the rural south--its land, traditions, music, etc.--formed a large part of Black identity.

Zora Neal Hurston, an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance who based some of her novels in her native Florida, included the use of southern Black dialect and the re-telling of folk tales, such as that of Brer Rabbit. She believed in documenting the traditions and folk culture of Blacks, including their roots in the south, as a way of preserving these traditions. Even as Blacks went north in the Great Migration, they carried these traditions with them, so it formed part of their life in the north. In addition, Zora Neal Hurston did not believe in integration; she wanted to preserve Black folklore and tradition, and she thought that integration implied that Blacks could not operate without whites to guide them.

Jean Toomer, the author of the novel Cane, united rural Black culture and elite white culture into a single revered work. The narratives in Cane move from the south to the north and back to the south, much as the African-American experience in the 20th century also moved between south and north. Claude McKay's works are based in Harlem, in his native Jamaica, and elsewhere, as they also document the experience of Black migration in the 20th century. Finally, Richard Wright's works are about the lives of African-Americans in the rural south, in Chicago, and elsewhere. The varied location of the works of the Harlem Renaissance show that Blacks brought their rich traditions with them, and that the urban experience was only one of the traditions that made up their culture and literature.