Abstract
Langston Hughes's 1935 play Little Ham was a genre-bending moment, influenced by screwball comedies on the 1930s movie screen and by Hughes's own love of African-American vernacular culture. By using this lens to examine the play, a rich picture of the Harlem Renaissance emerges, highlighting the difficult task of representation and engagement with cultural forms at a time when the spectre of minstrelsy still haunted the African-American stage. Hughes's project with Little Ham was, at once, ludic and critical, creating a classic comedy that deserves a closer look.
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