The Many Conversions of Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer’s life (1894-1967) was marked by a series of conversions. His novel Cane – an essential work of the Harlem Renaissance – was the result of one such conversion. This paper traces Toomer’s conversions – to Quaker mysticism, for instance, or to the teaching of Georges Gurdjieff – as it challenges familiar accounts of religious conversion. While exploring white, evangelical expectations of conversion experiences, this paper interrogates the North American cultural reliance on redemption narratives as a persistent manifestation of American exceptionalism. Conversion experiences grounded Jean Toomer’s sense of self while propelling him forward on his quest for wholeness within himself and with the universe. In many ways, conversion was the work of his life. This paper explores his work and its implications for the American call to progress. Furthermore, it demonstrates the lived hybridity of mystic practice and esotericism by examining the progression of Toomer’s conversion experiences.