Zora Neale Hurston and American Literary Culture - by M Genevieve West (Paperback)

About the Book

"Genevieve West examines the cultural history of Zora Neale Hurston's writing and the reception of her work to explain why Hurston died in obscure poverty only to be reclaimed as an important Harlem Renaissance writer decades after her death. Unlike other books on Hurston, this study focuses on how Hurston was marketed and reviewed during her career and how literary scholars reappraised her after her death. While her publisher's approach to marketing Hurston as an African American fiction writer and folklorist increased her popularity among the general reading public, her fellow Harlem Renaissance authors often excoriated her as an exploiter of African American culture and a propagator of Black stereotypes. Eventually, the criticism outweighed the popularity, and her writing fell out of fashion. It was only after critics reconsidered her work in the 1960s and 1970s that she eventually regained her status as one of the best writers of her generation. No other book has focused on this aspect of Hurston's career, nor has any book so systematically used marketing materials and reviews to track Hurston's literary reputation. As a result, West's study will provide a new perspective on Hurston and on the ways that the politics of race, class, and gender impact canon formation in American literary culture. This study is based on numerous interviews, short fiction previously undocumented in Hurston scholarship, an innovative analysis of advertisements and dust jackets, examinations of letters by and about Hurston, and the examination of historical/literary contexts, including the Harlem Renaissance, the protest movement, the assimilationist movement, the Black Arts movement, and the rise of Black feminist thought.

Book Synopsis

Taking a close look at Zora Neale Hurston's historical and literary contexts, this book investigates
why Hurston's writing fell out of favor during her lifetime only to be reclaimed and appreciated
years after her death.

Review Quotes

"Heretofore,
understanding of Hurston's reputation and reception has been based primarily on
opinion. This important volume supplants opinion with substantive, detailed
facts. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice

"A
unique contribution to Hurston scholarship, this volume is the first to focus
on the reception and marketing history of the tumultuous career and legacy of
the widely known Harlem Renaissance author who fell into virtual obscurity
until her reclamation in the 1970s."--American Literature

"West
argues persuasively that Hurston's determination to pursue her own goals as an
author conflicted with the expectations for her work among both white and Black
readers."--National Women's Studies Association
Journal

"[An]
altogether exemplary study of America's changing literary climate and its
repercussions for the life and the literary status of one writer."--Southern Literary Journal