Zora Neale Hurston & American literary culture / M. Genevieve West.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

West, Margaret Genevieve.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hurston, Zora Neale--Criticism and interpretation--History.

Hurston, Zora Neale.

Politics and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Politics and literature.

Political and social views.

Criticism and interpretation.

History.

United States.

Women and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Women and literature.

Hurston, Zora Neale--Appreciation--United States.

Hurston, Zora Neale--Political and social views.

African Americans in literature.

Race in literature.

Physical Description:

xiii, 300 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Zora Neale Hurston and American literary culture

Place of Publication:

Gainesville : University Press of Florida, [2005]

Summary:

M. Genevieve West examines the cultural history of Zora Neale Hurston's writing and the reception of her work, in an attempt to explain why Hurston died in obscure poverty only to be reclaimed as an important Harlem Renaissance writer decades after her death. Unlike other books on Hurston, this study focuses on how Hurston was marketed and reviewed during her career and how literary scholars reappraised her after her death.

While her publisher's approach to marketing Hurston as an African American fiction writer and folklorist increased her popularity among the general reading public, her fellow Harlem Renaissance authors often excoriated her as an exploiter of African American culture and a propagator of black stereotypes. Eventually, the criticism outweighed the praise, and her writing fell out of fashion. It was only after critics reconsidered her work in the 1960s and 1970s that she eventually regained her status as one of the best writers of her generation. No other book has focused on this aspect of Hurston's career, nor has any book so systematically used marketing materials and reviews to track Hurston's literary reputation. As a result, West's study will provide a new perspective on Hurston and on the ways that the politics of race, class, and gender impact canon formation in American literary culture.

This study is based on numerous interviews, short fiction previously undocumented in Hurston scholarship, an innovative analysis of advertisements and dust jackets, examinations of letters by and about Hurston, and the study of historical/literary contexts, including the Harlem Renaissance, the protest movement, the assimilationist movement, the Black Arts Movement, and the rise of black feminist thought.

Contents:

1 Negotiating Ideologies of the Harlem Renaissance: The Politics of Hurston's Art and Identity 14

2 Making a Way: Fighting "The Line of Least Resistance" 53

3 A Highway through the Wilderness 91

4 Voodoo: Fact and Fiction 127

5 "The Tragedies of Life" 169

6 Talking Back: Taking a Stand on Race and Politics 192

7 The Making of an Icon 229.

Notes:

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1997, under title: Zora Neale Hurston's place in American literary culture.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-284) and index.

ISBN:

0813028302

9780813028309

OCLC:

58422698