Date of Award
1-1-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English
First Advisor
Tayana L. Hardin, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Billy Stratton
Third Advisor
Hava Gordon
Keywords
Gesture, Hurston, Performativity, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Abstract
In this thesis, I argue that in her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates protagonist Janie Crawford's development through her use of gesture. As the narrative moves throughout Janie's life, she becomes progressively able to communicate her feelings and desires through the use of her body's movements. By depicting Janie's subjectivity as fundamentally embodied, Hurston indicates an awareness of the cultural oppression Janie suffers, linking her body to those of women in the past that suffered as slaves. She draws attention to Janie's body by relying on her gestures in order to emphasize the challenges Janie faces and ultimately transcends in her journey towards greater self-awareness and understanding. In addition to her novel, I also rely on Hurston's essay "Characteristics of Negro Expression" in order to show how she employs gesture as a mode of communication that can communicate as clearly as spoken language within Janie's community.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Recommended Citation
Celley, Madeline Elizabeth, "Flinging the Apron and Tearing the Kerchief: Janie Crawford's Gestures in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1134.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1134
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Rights holder
Madeline Elizabeth Celley
File size
74 p.
Copyright date
2016
File format
application/pdf
Language
en
Discipline
Literature, African American Studies, Gender Studies
Included in
African American Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons