Zora Neale Hurston and the creation of space for women in the black literary tradition

Abstract

Throughout history, Black women have faced distinct struggles based on the intersection of their race and gender identities. Consequently, within the literary tradition, Black female writers such as Zora Neale Hurston have had to carve out their own spaces to make their voices heard. Much like her literary foremothers, Hurston rejected the dominant literary conventions of her time and in turn, sought to portray the complex realities of Black women. The first chapter of this dissertation will explore the unfavourable reception which Hurston received from her male contemporaries, which contributed to her descent into obscurity. This reception will be compared with a historical background of Black female writers being silenced. The second chapter will analyse Hurston’s works using Black feminist and Intersectional theory and demonstrate how these portrayals anticipated later Black feminist thought. Finally, the third chapter will explore Hurston’s legacy as a literary influence, showing how her work laid the foundation for more complex, authentic and nuanced portrayals of Black women to emerge in contemporary literature. Through this exploration, this dissertation will demonstrate the key role Hurston played in the establishment of a Black female literary tradition.