A View of Dialect and Folklore in Hurstonas Their Eyes Were Watching God

Abstract

Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, about a black heroine. Species from the south folklore is portrayed in black dialect echoing traditional literary voice. Our paper targets to analyse the linguistic and cultural diversity in the novel noticed between black dialect and Standard English of the narrator; plus an exposition to folkloric elements spelled out of the Southern black culture accurately reported by the novelist through Janie whose voice represents the actual situation of everyday life. Hurston, as most urban and rural African American writers, defies canonical literature and conventional literary representation; indeed, she succeeds to develop the skill of reproducing the ritualized vernacular contest, stories, games, entertainment and other popular habits. Grounded in a theory of cultural oral legacy, Hurston's novel is duplication of the black culture and dialect which have had an unmistakable influence on American society.