Project Advisor(s) (Students Only)

Dr. Eric Stewart

Presentation Type (All Applicants)

Oral Presentation

Disciplines (All Applicants)

African American Studies | African History | Biblical Studies | Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority

Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement

Applying social identity theory to the process of creating peoplehood can illustrate the positive power that literature has in uplifting marginalized communities by showing their worth. James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation” and Zora Neale Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain, both composed during the Harlem Renaissance, offer one way to create Black peoplehood by creating depictions of God’s love for His Black people through the repurposing of biblical stories. Through the implementation of social identity theory to Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain and Johnson’s “The Creation,” I argue that these two authors addressed the need among African Americans to be viewed, and to see themselves, as a unified people after a history of exclusion from the dominant group. Johnson’s poem depicts a human-like God with infinite love for His people which would have told Black people that they were important to the God who created them. Hurston forged connections between the Hebrews in the Exodus and African Americans to show their worth and potential as a people through the special place that God’s attention gave them. Both works helped to establish Black people as people who deserved a positive, unique social identity because of God’s love.

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Retelling the Classics: The Harlem Renaissance, Biblical Stories, and Black Peoplehood

Applying social identity theory to the process of creating peoplehood can illustrate the positive power that literature has in uplifting marginalized communities by showing their worth. James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation” and Zora Neale Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain, both composed during the Harlem Renaissance, offer one way to create Black peoplehood by creating depictions of God’s love for His Black people through the repurposing of biblical stories. Through the implementation of social identity theory to Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain and Johnson’s “The Creation,” I argue that these two authors addressed the need among African Americans to be viewed, and to see themselves, as a unified people after a history of exclusion from the dominant group. Johnson’s poem depicts a human-like God with infinite love for His people which would have told Black people that they were important to the God who created them. Hurston forged connections between the Hebrews in the Exodus and African Americans to show their worth and potential as a people through the special place that God’s attention gave them. Both works helped to establish Black people as people who deserved a positive, unique social identity because of God’s love.