The Harlem Renaissance, an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s, also refered to as New Negro Renaissance, marked the first time that black literature and arts were seriously recognized by American publishers, critics and intellectuals. Participants in the movement attempted to refute the negative racist stereotypes of black life deeply imbedded in white popular as well as high culture. In a time when many black middle class intellectuals shamefully distanced themselves from their cultural heritage, artists of the Harlem Renaissance showed a strong sense of racial pride in exploring the African and Southern roots of black experience and experimenting with elements of traditional African American folk culture in different genres.
One of the most significant figures emerging from this literary period was the anthropologist and fiction writer Zora Neale Hurston. After her college education, she engaged in extensive anthropological field research on rural black tradition in her all-black hometown Eatonville in Florida as well as the Carribean region and published the collected tales, sermons, songs and jokes in f olklore collections, e.g. Mules and Men. As a novelist, she made use of her extensive knowledge of African American Southern rural dialect and oral culture by texualizing it in the dialogues of her fictional characters. Zora Neale Hurston was one of the first black writers to give an acurate depiction of African American humor. She demonstrated that humor is a crucial element of speech within the black community not only for establishing communal bonds through laughter but also because it plays an important role in the assertion of one’s voice. Hurston’s second and best-known novel Their Eyes Were Watching God focuses on the black woman’s place in society. The protagonist and story-teller Janie presents her quest for self-fulfillment and struggle against ve rbal oppression, over two decades and three marital relationships; as she gains experience by experimenting with
different roles, she learns how to assert her voice within the community and to humor life.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Depiction of Southern black speech and folk humor
2. Janie’s quest for self-fulfillment and the acquisition of an assertive female voice
3. The figure of God as the ultimate joker
4. The critical response to Hurston’s humor
Conclusion
Bibliography
Objectives & Themes
This academic paper examines the role of oral expression and traditional humor in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, focusing on how the protagonist, Janie, overcomes verbal oppression to achieve self-fulfillment and an authentic female voice.
- The intersection of African American folk culture and narrative structure.
- Janie’s evolution through three distinct marital relationships.
- The social and communal function of storytelling and "porch talk."
- The use of irony, parody, and humor as tools for resistance against oppression.
- A critical analysis of the reception of Hurston's work by contemporary male intellectuals.
Excerpt from the Book
1. Depiction of Southern black speech and folk humor
Through her novels, Zora Neale Hurston introduced a large readership to the rich oral tradition of southern black folklore. Her fictional characters are known for their story-telling skills, creative use of language and unmatched humor. She regarded herself as a spokeswoman of her own people who had been culturally marginalized and misrepresented through negative racist stereotypes. Unlike southern local color writers of the late 19th century, as for example Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus tales, Hurston did not primarily aim at didactically explaining black folk wisdom to white readers. During the Great Migration movement, many African Americans migrating from the rural south to the industrial cities of the north, cast off their southern cultural heritage and felt ashamed of their dialect. Through her literary work, the author attempted to help them reclaim black oral tradition and establish a sense of pride.
Hurston used an interesting narrative structure in Their Eyes Were Watching God by splitting the novel into an omniscient third person narration in Standard Written English and Janie’s first person narration as well as direct speech dialogues in southern black dialect. She refuted the pejorative treatment of Black English as “bad” truncated English. By regularly applying its distinct grammatical and phonetic characteristics, e.g. the pronunciation of a voiced plosive /d/ instead of a voiced fricative /ð/ or the use of double negation, Hurston suggested that the speakers use fixed rules, thereby establishing the notion that Black Vernacular English is a linguistically noteworthy variant of English. The lengthy passages of direct speech are marked by highly colloquial language which is enriched with colorful similes and aphorisms, e.g. “Unless you see de fur, a mink skin ain’t no different from a coon hide”, presenting a body of black folk wisdom hardly expressed in writing before.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This section situates the work within the Harlem Renaissance and introduces Zora Neale Hurston as a key literary figure who utilized authentic folk culture to empower her characters.
1. Depiction of Southern black speech and folk humor: This chapter analyzes how Hurston integrates African American dialect and storytelling rituals into her narrative to validate black oral tradition.
2. Janie’s quest for self-fulfillment and the acquisition of an assertive female voice: This chapter traces Janie’s psychological development and her struggle to gain independence through three marriages.
3. The figure of God as the ultimate joker: This chapter explores the metaphysical dimensions of the novel, interpreting God's indifference through the lens of humor and the protagonist’s survival.
4. The critical response to Hurston’s humor: This chapter examines the historical reception of the novel, specifically addressing the critiques leveled against Hurston by male intellectuals of her time.
Conclusion: This section summarizes how Hurston’s work has been reconsidered by contemporary critics as a landmark of black female literature and cultural heritage.
Bibliography: This section lists the primary text and the secondary academic literature consulted for this study.
Keywords
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harlem Renaissance, oral tradition, Black Vernacular English, folk humor, gender identity, female voice, self-fulfillment, sexual politics, Southern folklore, literary criticism, racial pride, verbal performance, Eatonville.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the significance of speech, storytelling, and humor in Zora Neale Hurston's novel, specifically regarding how these elements allow the protagonist to reclaim her voice.
What thematic areas are central to this work?
The primary themes include African American folk culture, gender dynamics, the struggle for independence, and the societal power of communal storytelling.
What is the main research question or goal?
The goal is to analyze how Janie overcomes verbal oppression and gains self-fulfillment by engaging with and mastering the folk traditions of her community.
Which academic methods are employed?
The author uses literary analysis, anthropological insights into folk culture, and a historical review of critical reception to interpret the text.
What topics are discussed in the main body of the work?
The body covers the depiction of black speech, Janie’s personal journey through marriage, metaphysical interpretations of God, and the contemporary critical response to the novel.
Which keywords characterize this academic work?
Key terms include Zora Neale Hurston, oral tradition, Black Vernacular English, gender identity, self-fulfillment, and communal folklore.
How does the author interpret the concept of "God" in the novel?
The author argues that Hurston portrays God as a "joker" or a force of indifferent irony, particularly in the face of senseless tragedy, rather than as a traditionally benevolent deity.
In what way does the paper address the critical reception of the book?
It highlights how early male critics, such as Richard Wright, dismissed the novel for failing to fit social realism molds, whereas modern scholars recognize its linguistic innovation and feminist depth.
- Quote paper
- Natalie Lewis (Author), 2003, The Importance of Speech and Humor in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/23875
