An Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God From The Perspective Of Postcolonial Feminism

In the 1920 s, the rise of “ Harlem Renaissance Movement” shows that the black American art really develops. Zora Neale Hurs ton was a ri sing star during the Harlem Renaissance period. It is a pi ty that when she was alive, she had critically-acclaime d. After her death, her works were still unaccepted by the public. The American society did not find that they had acciden tally buried a literary genius until the 1970 s. Now she is regarded as “ the southern genius, noveli st, folklorist and anthropologist”. Hurston spent all her lifetime struggling to inherit a nd carry forward the tradition of the black culture. From her unique female perspective and unique writing skills, she accum ulates many materials from the black background, and she creates many contagious novels and scripts. These m aterials provide valuable re ferences for f uture generations to study black literature.Their Eyes Were Watching God is the most important work of Hurston. In 1937, the novel was published. But after publication, Hurston was blamed by many black writers and critics. Because they thought th e novel did not conform to the ideas of the black protest novels in the society, and they thought that Hurston’s novel was meant to please the white society. Their Eyes Were Watching God describes a story that the heroine Janie once was a naive girl who was not clear about her black identity, but eventually she grew to be a black woman who has her own independent self-esteem personality.The black women in society not only suffer from the racial oppression of the white society, but also suf fer from the gender oppression of male hegemony. Under the dual oppression, black women are in the midst of “ the other" identity. This thesis attempts to explore the novel from the perspective of postcolonial feminism. Janie has the courage to pursue love, and to explore her black identity through her three marriages. Finally she obtains the awakening of self-awareness, finds her black identity and becom es an independent black female. Janie has her subjectivity and got the verbal right.This paper is divided into six parts: intr oduction, four chapters and the conclusion part.The introduction mainly introduces Zora Neale Hurston, her life experience, and her major works. It introduces the m ain contents and the writing background of Their Eyes Were Watching God. It also introduces the literary review at home and abroad, and the thesis statements.Chapter One m ainly introduces the pos tcolonial feminism, analyzes the combination between post-colo nialism and feminism, and i ndicates Spivak’s postcolonial feminism. This chapter serves as the theoretical support of the thesis.Chapter Two mainly analyzes the racial oppression of Their Eyes Were Watching God. By i ntroducing the historical origin of white cultural hegemony and the marginalized identity o f the black as “ th e other”, the chapter reveals the black are excluded from the m ainstream of the white culture, and the black are discrim inated racially by white society.Chapter Three mainly discusses gender oppression in Their Eyes Were Watching God. By investigating the black m ales’ identity transformation that changes from the oppressed of the white society to the oppressors of the black women, and by introducing Janie’s three marriages, the chap ter reveals the gender discrim ination and m iserable lives that the black women suffer from in the patriarchal society.Chapter Four mainly discusses Janie’s identity reconstruction under the oppression of race and gender. Through the awakening of Janie’s self-consciousness, the gradual obtainment of the discourse ri ghts and the influence of the black community on Janie, she finally finds the subjectivity and reconstructs the identity of the black women.The last part is the conclusion. From the perspective of postcolonial feminism, the thesis analyzes the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. It expresses that although the black women are in th e racial oppression and the gender oppression, they still looking for the liv ing space and want to reconstruct their iden tity. It show s that Hurs ton encourages the marginalized black women to pluck up their courage to fight, and no longer be the silence group. The last part points out the significance of studying Their Eyes Were Watching God.