An African American Literature In The Mother And Daughter: Hurston And Walker

Both Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker are distinguished women writers in the history of Afro-American literature. Zora Neale Hurston, whose works focus on the black women's search for their identities and fight for the liberation, is widely acknowledged as a literary forerunner in the history of Afro-American literature. Hurston exerts a tremendous influence upon numerous twentieth-century Afro-American women writers, such as Gloria Naylor, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, etc. Among them, Alice Walker regards Hurston as her "literary mother". She adopts and enlarges the literary tradition established by Hurston, and plays a significant role in looking for and recognizing Huston, who has long been forgotten.This thesis is an attempt of a comparative study between Hurston and Walker's masterpieces—Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple—by means of the signifying theory, which is proposed by the outstanding Afro-American literary critic Henry Louis Gates. This comparative study aims at revealing the relationship between Huston and Walker, i.e. how the traditions set by Huston was carried on and developed by Walker, so as to show the development of black women writing.This thesis is divided into six parts. The introduction is a general survey of Hurston and Walker's literary status, main works and influences. Chapter One reveals the literary maternal relationship between Hurston and Walker. Chapter Two gives an introduction to the origin, content and the practical significance of the signifying theory. Chapter Three discusses the signifying relationship between the themes of The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Chapter Four focuses on the narrative strategies of The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God. The conclusion sums up the whole thesis.