Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

To Make a Woman Black: A Critical Analysis of the Women Characters in the Fiction and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston

Jenkins, Joyce O.

Abstract Details

1978, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, English.
Zora Neale Hurston, the most prolific black woman writer of the first half of the twentieth century, produced four novels, two collections of folklore, an autobiography, numerous short stories, articles, manuscripts and dramas. Unfortunately, her career and art failed to receive the acclaim they deserve because of Hurston's ambivalent politics and, racial philosophy, along with her enigmatic personality. Moreover, her career was also hindered because it fell between the Harlem Renaissance and the era of protest fiction. Despite these encumbrances, she mastered local color, folklore, and dialect; furthermore, her characters are well-drawn, especially the women, who often resemble the author herself. She as well as her women characters have been misunderstood by those around them, and critics for the most part, have overlooked the majority of Hurston's women characters, her rugged individualism, and the motives behind her unorthodox political and philosophical views. In doing so, they have failed to recognize Hurston as a major literary figure. This study has examined and analyzed major and selected women characters in relation to three dominant themes in Hurston's fiction and non-fiction--love, religion, and race--in an effort to elevate the novelist-folklorist into the literary hall of fame, an honor which has been long overdue.
Alma J. Payne (Advisor)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jenkins, J. O. (1978). To Make a Woman Black: A Critical Analysis of the Women Characters in the Fiction and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1566463066601719

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jenkins, Joyce. To Make a Woman Black: A Critical Analysis of the Women Characters in the Fiction and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston. 1978. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1566463066601719.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jenkins, Joyce. "To Make a Woman Black: A Critical Analysis of the Women Characters in the Fiction and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1978. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1566463066601719

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)