Place Names: Artistic Mark In Langston Hughes' Poetry

Langston Hughes is a decisive writer; known as "The Harlem Poet Laureate", he had made tremendous impact on the Black civil rights movement and American poetry of 20th century. In recent years, his social position is enhancing gradually, he was not only be recognized by the mainstream American culture, and has also made huge influence for the whole world. The research on him is also towards the deep direction. Looking over Hughes' poetry achievement, there are various research ways, but few of them are based on the viewpoint of using the place names, it is even still a piece of blank domestically. Through combing the place names appear in Hughes' poetry, we can find that the place names have such a close relation with Hughes' thoughts, and politics, nations, cultures and religions all have been manifested in using the place names. The political view in using the place names includes opposing the racial discrimination and marching the social reform. Opposing the racial discrimination is the consistent theme of Hugh's poetry and while carrying on the social reform is the choice he makes forced by his ideal and the reality, and dual status, equal dialogue are the core of Hughes' nations view. American status and "double consciousness" in black identity have been well reflected in his poetry. He expected the friendly relations and equal dialogue between nations. Hughes' cultural view is the multicultural doctrine, method to deal with which is to be "harmonious and different". Hughes has a contradictory view towards regions, that is, he believes in it and while suspects. His political, national and regional views are inseparable and mutually unified. The paper attempts to look into the use of place names in Hughes' poetry and the meaning they express, to explore Hughes' abundant thoughts' connotation, aims at advancing the deep research on Hughes' poetry, and then supplying a fresh visual angle.