New Negro, Old Left

William J. Maxwell is assistant professor of English and an affiliate of the Afro-American Studies and Research Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Lucidly argued and written, New Negro, Old Left is an astute, original addition to work on the Harlem Renaissance, proletarian literature and, in particular, the often misrepresented relationship between them. American Studies William Maxwell's creative and compelling new book presents the case for a mutual indebtedness, a two-way channel 'between radical Harlem and Soviet Moscow, between the New Negro renaissance and proletarian literature' of the 1920s and 1930s. His emphasis on 'Black volition' and the 'interracial education of the Old Left' also aims to enhance our understanding of African American and 'white' modern literature as well as radicalism...This is a book that not only demands the attention of those who wish to be informed about the history of the African American Left, the Harlem Renaissance, and proletarian literature, but that will also engage anyone seeking to understand the potential relevance of contemporary critical arguments from scholars such as Eric Lott, David Roediger, Pierre Bordieu, Eve Sedgwick, Hazel Carby, George Hutchinson, Michael North, Michael Rogin, Robyn Wiegman, and others. Specialists in black culture and Communism will come away from the experience of readingNew Negro, Old Left with a much enriched apprehension of the ambiguities of cultural practice and a salutary desire to open up some of those little boxes ('Harlem Renaissance,' 'proletairan literature,' 'Wright versus Hurston') by means of which we have too neatly classified earlier relationships. -- Alan Wald, University of Michigan American Literature William J. Maxwell'sNew Negro, Old Left: African-American Writing and Communism Between the Wars is a closely argued, thoroughly researched attempt to show how this dominant narrative [of the history of African-American writing during the period between the First and Second World Wars] has often been misleading and reductive...[a] fine book... -- James Grove, Mount Mercy College College Literature In this brilliant book, Maxwell closes significant theoretical gaps in the histories of African American literature and communism. -- D. J. Rosenthal, John Carroll University Choice

• Introduction: Black and Red All Over? 1. Kitchen Mechanics and Parlor Nationalists: Andy Razaf Black Bolshevism, and Harlem's Renaissance 2. Home to Moscow: Claude McKay's The Negroes in America and the Race of Marxist Theory 3. The Proletarian as New Negro; the New Negro as Proletarian: Mike Gold Meets Claude McKay 4. Scottsboro Delimited: White Bait Red Triangles, and Interracialism Between Men 5. Black Belt/Black Folk: The End(s) of the Richard Wright--Zora Neale Hurston Debate 6. Native Sons Divorce: A Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index