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- D. H. Lawrence and Black Modernism
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Description
The first book-length study of D. H. Lawrence and Black writers, Laura Ryan examines connections between Lawrence and four key Black and mixed-race modernist writers – Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, and Zora Neale Hurston – positioning all five as co-creators of modernism.
Ryan investigates both the responses of these writers to Lawrence's writing and the ways in which Black modernist writers were frequently engaging in their work with the same themes, problems and questions as the English author. Their concerns converge with Lawrence's, for example, on themes and issues including primitivism, individualism, religion, vitalism, and sexuality, all while critiquing modernity, seeking new modes of expression, and forging forward to find new identities. In doing this, this book not only sheds new light on these particular writers; it pushes toward new ways of figuring literary connectedness more widely, and across barriers of race and nation.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. '[G]roping for a way out': Claude McKay
2. '[A] slit in the umbrella': Langston Hughes
3. The Broken Circle: Jean Toomer
4. Superwoman: Zora Neale Hurston
5. Beyond the New Negro: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Aug 20 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 240 |
| ISBN | 9781350557345 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Laura Ryan's book demonstrates how the New Modernist Studies continues to inspire innovative transnational and Black modernist scholarship. Spanning authors from Claude McKay and Langston Hughes to Hurston, Baldwin, and Morrison, Ryan convincingly argues that DH Lawrence, an author seldom invoked by Black modernists, either directly influenced or indirectly shared common concerns with New Negro Renaissance authors and their mid- to late-twentieth-century successors.
Laura Winkiel, Professor of English, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA

























