"Fantasy in Purple": Langston Hughes' Love and Dedicatee to Blues and Jazz Music
Beugre Zouankouan Stephane*
Citation : Beugre Zouankouan Stephane, "Fantasy in Purple": Langston Hughes' Love and Dedicatee to Blues and Jazz Music International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature 2019;7(7):10-23.
This paper aims to analyze Langston Hughes's celebration of Black music, namely blues and jazz music in his poem entitled "Fantasy in Purple." Hughes' love for blues and jazz music is revealed in this short poem at the outset when he uses a symbolic title to foreshadow the image, color, content, and musical combination in blues and jazz music. Moreover, he enumerates most of the fundamental musical instruments and elements used in performing and playing this fundamental African music of heritage. Doing so, he pays tribute to this wonderful Black music by celebrating it and by showing its importance and functions in the lives of African Americans. Indeed thanks to a thorough analysis following the theories of symbolism, stylistics, psychoanalytic criticism and African American criticism, we realize that this poem while being a celebration, honor and dedicatee, it highlights two major things which are: one the one hand, Hughes' love for music, his constant frequentation of blues and jazz clubs, and his integration of blues and jazz rhythms in his poetry and one the other hand, the important role blues and jazz music played on the psychological level in combating tragedy, death, darkness, sadness and pain as far as blacks are concerned.