Final answer:
During the Harlem Renaissance, black fiction writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston shifted away from depicting African Americans as 'happy darkies', a racist trope, and instead portrayed the complexity of black life with dignity, agency, and a rejection of stereotypes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The portrayal of 'happy darkies' by less experienced black fiction writers is a topic that is deeply rooted in the racial and cultural history of America, and specifically in the context of African American literature. During the Harlem Renaissance, a period of vibrant African American cultural expression in the 1920s, there was a significant shift in how black characters and themes were represented in literature. Early black fiction writers such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay moved away from the stereotypical portrayals of African Americans as 'happy darkies'—a trope commonly used in earlier works to depict black characters as content in their subjugation and to perpetuate racial stereotypes.
Instead, these Harlem Renaissance writers sought to capture the complexities of black life, often highlighting the resilience, dignity, and agency of African American communities despite the backdrop of racial prejudice and economic hardship. Langston Hughes, for example, is known for poems like 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' and 'I, Too', which celebrate African American heritage and spirit. Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, chronicles the life of a young black woman navigating personal growth and racial tensions in the South. These authors' works counter the 'happy darky' narrative by providing nuanced, realistic depictions of the African American experience.