Readers always have different opinions for the same work of literature. Specifically, people tend to use different lenses in interpreting a book. However, knowing the author’s biographic information and the contextual setting within which the author wrote a novel helps to get the intended meaning. Other aspects that a person should look at while doing a review include the style and technique, themes, and quality. This paper aims to respond to Jamaal May’s Hum, which was published in 2013 and is marketed by the Alice James Books. First, a short biography of the author will be stated, followed by a summary, and lastly, a critique or analysis of the work.
Biography of Jamaal May
Jamal May is an award-winning American poet with prowess in writing mechanical lyrics and stage performance. He was born in Detroit in 1982 (“Jamaal May”). The author has received many awards and honors, including the Beatrice Hawley Award, Spirit of Detroit Award, NAACP Image Award nominee, and Indiana Review Poetry Prize. Apart from a career as a poet, May has also worked as a teacher in Detroit public schools and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Moreover, the author is also a freelance sound engineer.
Summary of Hum
Hum is a collection of poems that reflect on life aspects within the post-industrial era and exposes the author’s anxieties. The book opens with a poem entitled “Still Life,” which images a boy wearing a costume and imaginatively play with Detroit (May 1). The metaphorical technique is used to equate rust to a thief, despite the boy not knowing he is sure that someday he will come. Hum proceeds the second poem, which is a sestina, traditionally an Italian form characterized by the ending of lines in a specific form based on the mathematical pattern. May then continues his work with six poems which are titled based on the phobias related to the ending words in the previous write-up.
The central theme of the poem is anxiety and trauma, which is depicted through the use of words such as “waiting” and “trauma.”
Moreover, the societal inequalities and racial discrimination against black people, police brutality, and corruption are also common themes in the poem. May uses a technique in which he images the past and the present, which consecutively leads the protagonist’s fear to escalate as he recalls how their family received the news of death (May 43). The paradox is employed in depict how innocence and mortality and the living and the dead co-exists, making the reader understand how post-traumatic stress can be triggered by experiences that appear to be innocuous.
Furthermore, May can show the connection between industrial mechanics and spirituality. For instance, one of the poems, “On Metal,” talks about a car that has been broken down. It symbolizes the broken body of a person, hence bringing some religious aspects to it. The machinist lover also depicts such conflict in which he serenades the automation that he has made but ends up corroding it with his breath. Through each line throughout the book, the reader can feel the vulnerability of May. The poem is formally sophisticated and has an irreducible combination of music that makes each page entertaining. The ultimate lesson from the collection is that despite the fear and the stress, there is always an array of hope.
Analysis and Critique
Scholars Interpretation
The depth and sophistication in Hum’s poem give it a unique mechanical style. One of his readers commented that May’s literary work is concerned with unseen things because they are beneath the surface, eating people away (Quintanilla par 11). May’s poem is centered on themes of fear and phobia, which in essence is what eats people away unless there is a glimpse of hope that can bring sustenance. According to Timothy, the book highlights the social injustices in Detroit as well as in the entire country (par 4). The other comment that the author has received for his book “Hum is that a meditation on the machinery of living, an extended ode to sound and silence” (“The Sunday Poem”). Overall, May’s book has received more of positive reviews than criticism from other activists and scholars.
Cultural, Social, Educational, or Historical Impact
The cultural aspect indicated in the book is that of the modern United States, which is fully industrialized, but people have forgotten humanity. Sotelo rightly states that in Hum, the modern man is equated to a wreck (Sotelo par 3). Society appears to be characterized by people living in fear and anxiety, which escalates the prevalence of psychological illnesses. Remarkably, the poetry has themes of “race, class, and injustice” common in modern-day society (Timothy par 3). Regarding education, the poem employs the use of many literary devices, including metaphor, paradox, symbolism, and motifs, to mention a few. His poetry collection can, therefore, be used in teaching literature students some of the musical devices used in different forms of spoken words. Although the book was only released in 2013, it has some historical relevance, more on the recent campaigns against police brutality on black Americans..
Reflection of Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an era in which authors of different literary works, including poems. Novels and plays wrote mainly about the racial identity of the black people in the United States. Notably, the writers in this era broke free from the standards considered “Whites”; hence the movement was occasionally referred to us as the new Negro movement. According to Boyd, the Harlem Renaissance started in the 1920s in black communities, including New York (Harlem) and Chicago (Bronzeville (82). In highlighting racism and other disadvantages faced by African Americans, they hoped to open up more opportunities.
May’s work reflects the Harlem Renaissance in two ways: First, his mechanical and mathematical technique in structuring the poem is a departure from what is considered to be the norm in poetry. Secondly, May’s work significantly reflects the fears that the black people living in America still face due to racism. Some of the issues that stand out are the fear of being falsely accused, such as in the poem “Man Matching Description” (Quintanilla par 9). There is always the anxiety that a person will be a target of the law enforcing officers for the wrong reasons. Moreover, May shows the struggle of the Black people letting go in his “The Sky, Now Black with Birds,” which questions how a man is to forgive after being beaten, dragged, and then murdered by the white men in Jasper (Sotelo par 3). In sum, May’s book is related to the Renaissance movement in that it departs from the norm and writes about African Americans.
Conclusion
Jamaal May’s book, Hum, is a remarkable collection of poetry about different life aspects. The author, born in Detroit, uses mechanical language to address fear, anxiety, racism, injustices, police, and other themes that have relevance to the modern world. May has not received criticism; rather, many scholars have praised his work as enlightening. Therefore, the book has relevance to society, historical aspects of racism and wrong accusations, and stylistic devices relevant for students of literature. Notably, although May finished his work in 2013, it resembles theme and form with the literary works of the Harlem Renaissance. The book continues to mirror society by showing some of the problems faced.
References
Boyd, Robert L. “The Harlem Renaissance and Blacks’ Employment in Cultural Expression Occupations.” Journal of African American Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, 2021, pp. 82-101.
“Jamaal May.” Poetry Foundation. n.d. Web.
Quintanilla, Octavio. “There’s Still So Much to Adjust:” Jamaal May’s Hum — Red Wedge.” Red Wedge, 2015. Web.
Sotelo, Analicia. “Hum by Jamaal May — American Microreviews & Interviews.” American Microreviews & Interviews. n.d. Web.
“The Sunday Poem: Jamaal May’s Hum.” Gwarlingo, 2021. Web.
Timothy. “What We’re Reading: Hum.” Hazel & Wren, 2014. Web.
May, Jamaal. Hum. Alice James Books, 2014.