Chapter Two: The Notion of Orality in the African American Literatureviewed

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The Analysis of the Cultural Aspects of Orality in Hurston's Novel Their Eyes Were Watching God

For the African American writers, to represent a successful piece of literature; they have to integrate on it some aspects of culture like Black dialect, slave narratives, folklore, folktales, jokes, songs, sermons and epics. In this context, Zora Hurston relied on the anthropological field within her novel; to craft an artistic image of the African American culture in general and of Florida's community in particular.

Hurston's interest on folklore had been derived from her teacher the anthropologist Franz Boas who ordered her to go to the South of the United States and “collect some of this African-American lore, to record songs, customs, tales, superstitions, lies, jokes, dances, and games” (Awkward 16). After her collection of Negro folklore, she admired this heritage and thus integrated it within her novels written in a language as originally spoken.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. classified Hurston's novel Their Eyes were Watching God as a “speakerly text” due to her oral performance of several traditions as narratives, sermons, stories, games, songs and sayings. Hence, she imbued her novel with different forms of folklore and succeeded to invite her readers to live and participate with her community's daily life.

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