MISOGYNY AND HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE DECADENT STRAIN OF HARLEM RENAISSANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF WALLACE THURMAN’S INFANTS OF THE SPRING
MISOGYNY AND HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE DECADENT STRAIN OF HARLEM RENAISSANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF WALLACE THURMAN’S INFANTS OF THE SPRING

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the intersections of misogyny and homosexuality within the Harlem Renaissance, specifically through Wallace Thurman’s novel Infants of the Spring. The analysis illustrates how Thurman, along with contemporaries like Alain Locke and Langston Hughes, engaged with the intricate socio-cultural landscape of Harlem during the 1920s. By critiquing the patriarchal and heteronormative constructs prevalent during this period, the study explores how these figures perpetuated certain misogynistic attitudes despite their progressive stances on racial and sexual identities. Utilizing Marilyn Frye's theories on male supremacy and homosexual identity, alongside Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s ideas on the epistemology of the closet which reveals the dualities and contradictions within gender and sexual identities, the paper argues that the Harlem Renaissance, while a site of significant cultural production and resistance, also mirrored broader societal contradictions concerning gender and sexuality. Through a close reading of Thurman’s work and the interactions of historical figures at events like the 1924 Civic Club dinner, this study reveals the disparate and contradictory ways in which African American writers and intellectuals both challenged and conformed to oppressive norms.

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