One
of the themes which is created by Langston Hughes in his poem "The Weary Blues" is the theme of suffering of the African
Americans which cannot be truly felt unless experienced firsthand. "The Weary Blues" provides a realistic description of the pain of the marginalized. This sense of verisimilitude is
fostered especially through the song of the piano man, creating an image of an
actual man singing with a "melancholy tone" (Hughes). In this sense,
Hughes creates an artception, in which within his art, his poem, there is
another artist expressing his art, his pain. This ironically fosters
verisimilitude in that the art expressed by the singer is actually written by a
real life artist, Hughes, while being expressed by another artist, the singer. The
"weary blues" he sings remark how he "ain't got nobody in this
world" (Hughes) and the fact that no one can truly experience the pain he
feels in his song besides himself. This axiom is traced to the fact in which an
artist performing often has the feeling which he cannot explain to a regular
bystander. This is similar to the pain felt by the marginalized, as only those
who suffered through the pains truly understand it. The men who understand the
true pain of the "blues" are the ones who have actually experienced
the blues themselves.
Nice analysis of Hughes' use of artception to foster verisimilitude! I would have never viewed it through this artistic literary lens. The music and the image truly create a sense of truth.
ReplyDeleteThere in a meta element to your analysis about art and verisimilitude. I enjoyed how you highlighted the irony--very interesting. I also learned "artception" is a word, according to Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Artception). Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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