Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston, considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. Set in central and southern Florida in the early twentieth century, it follows protagonist Janie Crawford's ripening from a vibrant but voiceless teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny. Hurston wrote the novel in Haiti in the span of seven weeks. Though initially poorly received by the African-American community, the novel has since been regarded as influential to both African-American literature and women's literature, and Time magazine included it in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Why did Their Eyes Were Watching God fall out of favor after 1937 and how did it return?
Harlem Renaissance critics found it too apolitical and it went out of print for nearly three decades until Alice Walker and others revived it in the 1970s.
The novel first received mixed reviews, particularly from critics associated with the Harlem Renaissance, who often expected literature to engage explicitly with racial struggle. Richard Wright dismissed it as lacking serious political engagement, and Alain Locke criticized Hurston for not addressing pressing social issues. These dismissals contributed to the book disappearing from mainstream literary discourse, and it stayed out of print for nearly three decades. In the 1970s scholars and writers such as Alice Walker helped revive interest in Hurston's work, and Walker's 1975 essay In Search of Zora Neale Hurston brought new attention to her legacy.
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Source Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)
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Source Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)
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1. Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work.
Lead
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston.
Original language statement
Though initially poorly received by the African-American community, the novel has since been regarded as influential to both African-American literature and women's literature, and Time magazine included it in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.
Lead paragraph
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny." Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in Haiti in the span of seven weeks.
Authored By: Zora Neale Hurston, Lead section, authorship
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston.
In Genre: Bildungsroman, Infobox, Genre field
Novel, psychological fiction, bildungsroman
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