The Study of Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Seraph on the Suwanee" in the Light of Hélène Cixous' Theories

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 20, , course: English language and literature, language: English, abstract: Zora Neale Hurston is a reputable figure in the fields of African-American literature and Women's studies. The researcher aims at reading her masterpiece "Their Eyes Were Watching God" along with her other fictional work "Seraph on the Suwanee" under the light of the theories of the post-structuralist French feminist critic and thinker, Hélène Cixous. The aim of this study is to scrutinize whether the selected novels could be regarded as examples and models of écriture féminine. The selected novels possess notable features, which led the researcher to study them from Cixous's perspectives. The first leading and prominent feature is the novels' being written by a woman. The second far-reaching feature is the existence of female protagonists within both of the selected texts who revolt against patriarchal figures. By investigating the pivotal notions of openness, multiplicity, body as a means of resistance against patriarchal constructions and the dominance of voice as a subversive element within the texts, the thesis aims to reach this outcome: Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee are capable to bear post-structuralist as well as feminine qualities. In sum, Zora Neale Hurston, the author of the novels, could be categorized as an example of Cixous's notion of écriture feminine.