Love, Black Women Empowerment and Social Raising in Afro- American Literature. A case Study: Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God A

Abstract

The Civil War considered as the most important historical event in the modern American history due to the radical changes that the American society witnessed after this period. African Americans situation changed after this event as they could realize their civil rights and they started work on improving their cultural, educational, economical level so that many branches witnessed a revolution. Literature was the main branch that blacks focused on it as the only branch that enabled them to expose their preoccupations for the world. Zora Neal Hurston was one of the black literature leaders as she participated to create a new literary genre that concerns the African American women which is black feminism. This Master dissertation entitled Love, Black Women Empowerment and Social Raising in Modern Afro-American Literature. A case study Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the most important literary work for her because it presents a new topic in the black literature; it embodied different gender norms, it illustrates the oppression of patriarchy and the role of love in giving black women power and self confidence. Moreover, the novel cultural and social value attracted many black female leaders such as Alice Walker and Oprah Winfrey who used this novel to motivate black females and encouraging them to challenge the social norms and traditions to reach freedom and power. This study seeks to find how Zora’s novel influenced African American women to change black women’s life direction. This study aims to analyze the application of both feminism and reader response theories that present and explain the situation of black females in America and how they succeeded to reach their goals and gain power although the obstacles since Harlem Renaissance till nowadays.