The Enduring Voice: Langston Hughes's Poetic Trajectory and Its Contemporary Significance through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Abstract

This study examines the stylistic evolution of Langston Hughes’s poetry over the decades using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). It focuses on three major poems, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1920), “I, Too, Sing America” (1926), and “Theme for English B” (1951), to trace how his style evolved across three key poems and to investigate how his linguistic choices create meaning that reflects changing historical and cultural realities. The SFL analysis focuses on transitivity (process types) and mood (subjectivity/dialogue). In the 1920 poem, relational and material processes realize the communal, historical projection; in the 1926 poem, declarative mood and direct action establish the assertive political voice; and in the 1951 poem, shifts toward mental and verbal processes exhibit the introspective complexity and explicitly dialogic engagement. This established connection between poetic style and social meaning demonstrates how Hughes's grammatical architecture both actively shaped and captured the developing discourse of African American identity, resilience, and expression, resonating strongly in current conversations about race, equality, and belonging.Hughes