Abstract: Claude McKay's position within the Harlem Renaissance and Black modernism is solidly assured; however, much of his broad understanding is as a poet leaving his prose and novels of the late 1920s understudied. This article uses the central figure of McKay's 1929 novel, Banjo , to follow the diasporas present within the instrument, main character, and the book itself. Through such an exploration a deeper understanding of the complexities of McKay's artistic endeavors within the Black Atlantic and the ways Black artists maneuver within the capillaries of modern capitalism can be achieved.
William C. Palmer (Mon,) studied this question.