New Essays on Their Eyes Were Watching God (The American Novel)

After decades of relegation to the margins of American literary history, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God has recently been rediscovered by American literary and cultural scholars who have begun to explore the novel's thematic, ideological, and aesthetic complexity. In the introduction to this volume Michael Awkward provides an overview of the critical reception of Hurston's novel, from the largely dismissive reviews accompanying the novel's publication in 1937, to factors which helped revive interest in Hurston in the 1960s, to its recent establishment as a central American novel. The other essays in the volume discuss Hurston's sophisticated use of black folklore, the autobiographical resonances in the novel, Hurston's definition of the relationship between black artists and the Afro-American masses, and the usefulness of feminist modes of inquiry. This collection offers fresh insight for approaching Hurston's compelling exploration of a black woman's extended search for self and community. "The American Novel" series provides students of American literature with introductory critical guides to the great works of American fiction. Each volume begins with a substantial introduction by a distinguished authority on the text, giving details of the novel's composition, publication history, and contemporary reception, as well as a survey of the major critical trends and readings from first publication to the present. This overview is followed by a group of new essays, each specially commissioned from a leading scholar in the field, which together constitute a forum of interpretive methods and prominent contemporary ideas on the text. There are also helpful guides to further reading. Specifically designed for undergraduates, the series will be a powerful resource for anyone engaged in the critical analysis of major American novels.After years of neglect, Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has now achieved a position of prominence in the American literary canon. In the introduction to this volume Michael Awkward provides an overview of the critical reception of Hurston's novel from the largely dismissive reviews that accompanied its publication in 1937, to factors that helped revive interest in Hurston in the late 1960s, to the recent recognition of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" as an important American novel. The other essays in the volume discuss Hurston's sophisticated use of black folklore, the autobiographical resonances in the novel, Hurston's definition of the relationship between black artists and the Afro-American masses, and the usefulness of feminist modes of inquiry. The collection offers suggestive means by which to approach Hurson's compelling exploration of a black woman's extended search for self and community. Frontmatter......Page 1 Contents......Page 5 Series Editor's Preface......Page 7 1 - Introduction......Page 9 2 - The Personal Dimension in Their Eyes Were Watching God......Page 37 3 - "Crayon Enlargements of Life": Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God as Autobiography......Page 59 4 - The Politics of Fiction, Anthropology, and the Folk: Zora Neale Hurston......Page 79 5 - Power, Judgment, and Narrative in a Work of Zora Neale Hurston: Feminist Cultural Studies......Page 103 Notes on Contributors......Page 133 Selected Bibliography......Page 135 The Personal Dimension In Their Eyes Were Watching God / Robert Hemenway -- Crayon Enlargements Of Life : Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God As Autobiography / Nellie Mckay -- The Politics Of Fiction, Anthropology, And The Folk : Zora Neale Hurston -- Power, Judgment, And Narrative In A Work Of Zora Neale Hurston : Feminist Cultural Studies / Rachel Blau Duplessis. Edited By Michael Awkward. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 127-129).