THE QUEST OF SELF-AWARENESS IN THE BLACK WOMEN’S IDENTITIES: THE ANALYSIS OF ZORA NEALE HURSTON’S THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

Abstract

African American literature establishes a great artistic field with diverse cultural and thematic experiences. Throughout history, African Americans have experienced many troubles, such as segregation and discrimination in various areas. However, their literature shows a significant resistance to all the troubles in history. Numerous writers and artists explore themes such as African American culture, racism, religion, slavery, and a sense of homelessness, one of whom is Zora Neale Hurston. Besides her race, she is also a woman, so she is both a woman and a colored person at the bottom of the social ladder. Thus, Their Eyes Were Watching God is not only a source of race but also gender. This paper sheds light on the importance of Zora Neale Hurston in African American literature, and the study will be supported by other famous Afro-American writers’ articles and statements. Why is she so important? From which perspectives did she contribute to African American literature? Why was her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God mostly criticized? This novel, being important in the field of Black Feminism, concerns the hardships of black women racially and sexually. This study will answer these questions with examples from Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiographical novel Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography (1984), Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), and Alice Walker’s article “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” (1975).