Their Eyes Were Watching God ENGLISH III他们的眼睛注视着上帝英语三级.pptVIP

Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston Actually lived in Eatonville, FL, as a child First all-black incorporated town in the US Her dad (John) served several terms as mayor Studied at Howard University Published in literary magazine Significant figure in the Harlem Renaissance Generally, from the end of WW1 through the middle of 1930’s depression Talented young African-American writers produced a sizable body of literature in the four prominent genres of poetry, fiction, drama, and essay W. E. B. DuBois introduced the notion of “two-ness”: a divided awareness of one’s identity “One ever feels his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” Harlem Renaissance Common themes of the Harlem Renaissance writers Alienation Marginality Use of folk material Use of the blues tradition More than just a literary movement Included racial consciousness “back to Africa” movement, led by Marcus Garvey Racial integration Explosion of music, particularly jazz, spirituals, and blues Painting Dramatic revues Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman organized the journal Fire!, considered one of the defining publications of the era Hurston studied anthropology at Barnard College Her writing was influenced by her anthropological research on rural black folklore Eyes was published in 1937, long after heydey of the HR 1930s brought an end to the sense of cultural openness that allowed the renaissance to flourish Political tension increased and social realism dominated cultural ideas Art should be political and expose social injustice Richard Wright (Native Son, Black Boy) wrote that Hurston’s novel was not “serious fiction” and that it “carries no theme, no message, no thought.” Hurston refused to “honor” gender conventions Her behavior sometimes seemed shocking Fell into obscurity for a number of years By late 1940