Recently, we've discussed Hurston's use of black vernacular in her novel. She writes in two voices: the narration in standard English and the dialogue in vernacular. This juxtaposition is not so much of a contrast as a comparison. The narration has a calm, flowing, and passionate voice, allowing for a smooth reading for the text. The dialogue is lyrical and adds character to the book. While it may take a while to easily understand the dialogue, once you get into it the novel is all the more enjoyable. Putting the dialogue and narration next to other brings out their unique qualities.
I found Hurston's use of black vernacular similar to Sterling Brown's in "Strong Men." I am not sure of the time period (perhaps during the Black is Beautiful Movement), but many African American writers started using black dialect in their literary works to show that it was not some crude, backward speech--there was an inherent beauty in it. Perhaps this is why Hurston and Brown used dialect in their works.
This also reminded me, surprisingly, of the Divine Comedy, written in the early 1300s by the Italian Dante Alighieri. During this time is was standard to written all scholarly and great works in Latin, the language of learning. However, Dante chose to write his epic poem in Italian, specifically the Tuscan dialect, to show that one could create a great work out of a "common" language. His work actually helped establish this Tuscan dialect as the standard Italian language. Like Dante, Hurston and Brown wrote in the black vernacular to show its beauty.
I think that besides to show its beauty, the use of vernacular by popular authors also creates ethnic pride among the community they represent. With Dante's work, he established Italy as a place with a culture beyond the Catholic Church, and I think Hurston is trying to do the same thing in her book. Standard English was the language forced upon slaves by their masters, so by writing in the vernacular she helped to show a unique culture that is not solely tied to slavery-era roots, but instead is evolving and leaving its own mark on the larger American culture.
ReplyDeleteThe connection to Sterling Brown is very perceptive. In fact, both Brown and Hurston are affiliated with the Harlem Renaissance (so earlier than you're supposing here), and both were pioneers in the idea that black dialect is not some form of "substandard" or "error-ridden" English but a unique and rich language of its own (or a dialect or subcategory of the larger English language), with its own internal rules and conventions and a rich, metaphorical capacity. Brown was a trailblazer in presenting southern black language as poetry, and Hurston (as an anthropologist, which you'll hear more about in the doc we'll watch this week) does the same thing in her fiction. There's plenty of black dialect written by white writers in the early 20th century that would make you cringe, and it does serve a distancing effect (some characters talk "right," while others talk "funny"). But Hurston and Brown aim to portray people as they really speak, and they both find and eloquence and poetry in speech that to this point was mocked and belittled.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a blog post about this issue as well, but I really like the stance you take on it. Language is very important in defining a culture, so I definitely understand the intentions of Hurston (and I suppose Brown though I haven't read his work) in trying to highlight their cultures through language. I also think however, that this is a place where literature doesn't do justice to humanity. While Hurston does a really good job in capturing the speaking style in Their Eyes Were Watching God, I don't think you can possible capture how different cultures speak with written language. Different intonations and different accents play such an important role in discerning peoples and their value. I think that the juxtaposition in this novel of the two different types of English is a valiant effort, but I think we also have to use other mediums to capture the raw emotion behind spoken language.
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