Claude McKay’s Historical Imagination

Much of the critical discussion surrounding Claude McKay’s landmark collection Harlem Shadows (1922) has centered on its peculiar mix of traditional poetic forms and revolutionary politics. Yet little attention has been paid to this book as McKay’s first attempt to seriously explore the past in verse and develop his own philosophy about history and temporality. This essay describes McKay’s historical imagination as it emerges in his views of the following: first, the history of former and current empires; second, the influence of economic systems on how time is experienced in the West and the Caribbean; and third, art’s historical function as a portal to lost customs. It also considers how this historical vision deepens and complicates the political commitments for which McKay is best known.