I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen "One Friday Morning" af Langston Hughes. Ud over analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “One Friday Morning” (1941)
Forfatter: Langston Hughes
Genre: Short story
James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901-1967) var en amerikansk digter, forfatter og politisk aktivist. Han er især kendt for sin indflydelse på genren jazz poetry og som en ledende figur i den såkaldte Harlem Renaissance - en kulturel og litterær bevægelse med udspring i distriktet Harlem i New York, der historisk har haft et stort flertal af sorte indbyggere.
Hughes' forfatterskab havde ofte fokus på sorte amerikanere fra arbejderklassen og deres oprør mod racisme og fordomme.
Uddrag
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Title
In the literal sense, the title of the story “One Friday Morning” by Langston Hughes suggests that an important event will take place on a Friday morning. Upon reading the story, it becomes clear that the title refers to the Friday morning when Nancy Lee, the main character, is supposed to receive the scholarship prize (p. 6, ll. 9-10). However, on this day, Nancy Lee learns that she will not receive the scholarship, solely because she is African American: “Miss O’Shay said, ‘When the committee learned that you were colored, they changed their plans.’ ” (p. 8, ll. 9-10)
The title has a symbolic meaning as well, as it is on this particular Friday morning that Nancy Lee is confronted with the reality of prejudice and discrimination that exists against African Americans in the US. This comes as a shock because, up until this point, Nancy Lee did not feel discriminated against in her community: “Nancy Lee sometimes forgot she was colored herself.” (p. 2, l. 8). Furthermore, she believed that America was becoming a country of fairness and equal opportunity for all (p. 6, ll. 33-35).