Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Although relatively little critical attention has been paid to the closing chapters of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the representation of the 1928 cyclone that struck the Everglades in Florida can be seen to have left a profound—and traumatic—impact on both the relations among...

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Main Author: Aitor Ibarrola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Jaén 2015-06-01
Series:The Grove
Online Access:http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/1410
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author Aitor Ibarrola
author_facet Aitor Ibarrola
author_sort Aitor Ibarrola
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description Although relatively little critical attention has been paid to the closing chapters of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the representation of the 1928 cyclone that struck the Everglades in Florida can be seen to have left a profound—and traumatic—impact on both the relations among different human groups and the author’s narrative technique. Not only is the title of the book extracted from this section of the book, but faced with the “monstropolous beast” (239) of a Caribbean hurricane, the main characters of the novel realize that interracial attitudes and social structures begin to change shape and lose stability. This article shows that questions of class, race and gender rise in both structural and figurative importance in the closing chapters of the book, and that Hurston was genuinely committed to memorialize the losses and mental wounds of those who have generally been forgotten in official records.
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spelling doaj.art-0efe891a1e4b4e4887af79e9119335332022-12-22T03:50:14ZengUniversidad de JaénThe Grove1137-005X2386-54312015-06-0121Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching GodAitor Ibarrola0Universidad de Deusto, BilbaoAlthough relatively little critical attention has been paid to the closing chapters of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the representation of the 1928 cyclone that struck the Everglades in Florida can be seen to have left a profound—and traumatic—impact on both the relations among different human groups and the author’s narrative technique. Not only is the title of the book extracted from this section of the book, but faced with the “monstropolous beast” (239) of a Caribbean hurricane, the main characters of the novel realize that interracial attitudes and social structures begin to change shape and lose stability. This article shows that questions of class, race and gender rise in both structural and figurative importance in the closing chapters of the book, and that Hurston was genuinely committed to memorialize the losses and mental wounds of those who have generally been forgotten in official records.http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/1410
spellingShingle Aitor Ibarrola
Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Grove
title Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
title_full Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
title_fullStr Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
title_full_unstemmed Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
title_short Can Literary Works Help to Memorialize Natural Disasters? Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
title_sort can literary works help to memorialize natural disasters zora neale hurston s their eyes were watching god
url http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/1410
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