Reclaiming Black Life
As we discussed Wright's criticism of "their eyes were watching god", I couldn't help but think about his comment on Hurston's writing as a form of entertainment for white people, similar to minstrel shows. The comment kept popping back in my head the longer I thought about her writing and what I'd gotten from it. In a way, I understood what Wright was saying, but I also wondered if there could've been a deliberate purpose for her portrayal of such "minstrel like" displays of the black community in the Muck.
In reading wrights criticism of Hurston's novel, I could see the points he made on the sort of overemphasized idealized nature of the Muck although the people there were working on a white plantation every day. This idea of them being so happy to work there seemed odd to me but I didn't take it as a form of comedic play on Black culture in the sense Wright took it, pointing out the centuries of history behind whites taking Black culture and using it as a form of their entertainment. As I thought about this more and more, I found myself thinking deeper about the sense of community Hurston portrayed in the Muck and wondered if there was an ulterior motive for her writing about the Muck in such an idealized tone. I wondered if, although it may be a stretch, Hurston's focus on the community aspect of all the people in the Muck and their emphasized emotions was a reclamation of the culture the white people had taken and turned into a negative thing. Not at all the same, but in a similar way that the N-word has been reclaimed by Black culture, which still baffles many non-Black people, I wondered if Hurston deliberately wrote in this seemingly "minstrel show like" manner to take back the culture and lifestyle that was used as entertainment for white folk. By her writing in this manner, showing the strong Black bonds between the characters, writing as a strong Black woman, was she purposely reclaiming these characteristics of a strong community that had been taken negatively, somewhat discouraging Black people from showing strong emotions like the characters in the Muck. I then began to think about how Wright's characters in native Son seemed to directly contrast Hurston's characters, as they seemed inhumane with almost no emotion whatsoever. In addition to that lack of emotion, his characters, like Bigger Thomas, lacked a connection to their Black ancestry in a positive light, possibly because Wright as so adamant about not having his writing appease, or even be found enjoyable by a white audience. I agree that to white readers who aren't readily thinking about how Hurston is reclaiming Black culture, these instances where the characters of the Muck seem to be experiencing heavily emphasized emotions can be funny and entertaining, in the way Wright feared.
The common White reader may read Hurston's book in the exact manner Wright mentions, however, I think there is an alternate reading for Hurston's Black readers to look deeper beyond the surface of the story. To see Black culture and community come together in a positive light, to reclaim that ability to live their lives that they were robbed of when minstrel shows were created, making entertainment out of Black life. Though I may be reading way too much into this, and it may be too far of a stretch for this book, I can't help but wonder if Hurston thought about this as she wrote. Furthermore, I wonder if Wright was ever able to see her book outside of the narrow view he read it in, and see this alternate story that didn't play into the hands of the whites as he so confidently described.
In reading wrights criticism of Hurston's novel, I could see the points he made on the sort of overemphasized idealized nature of the Muck although the people there were working on a white plantation every day. This idea of them being so happy to work there seemed odd to me but I didn't take it as a form of comedic play on Black culture in the sense Wright took it, pointing out the centuries of history behind whites taking Black culture and using it as a form of their entertainment. As I thought about this more and more, I found myself thinking deeper about the sense of community Hurston portrayed in the Muck and wondered if there was an ulterior motive for her writing about the Muck in such an idealized tone. I wondered if, although it may be a stretch, Hurston's focus on the community aspect of all the people in the Muck and their emphasized emotions was a reclamation of the culture the white people had taken and turned into a negative thing. Not at all the same, but in a similar way that the N-word has been reclaimed by Black culture, which still baffles many non-Black people, I wondered if Hurston deliberately wrote in this seemingly "minstrel show like" manner to take back the culture and lifestyle that was used as entertainment for white folk. By her writing in this manner, showing the strong Black bonds between the characters, writing as a strong Black woman, was she purposely reclaiming these characteristics of a strong community that had been taken negatively, somewhat discouraging Black people from showing strong emotions like the characters in the Muck. I then began to think about how Wright's characters in native Son seemed to directly contrast Hurston's characters, as they seemed inhumane with almost no emotion whatsoever. In addition to that lack of emotion, his characters, like Bigger Thomas, lacked a connection to their Black ancestry in a positive light, possibly because Wright as so adamant about not having his writing appease, or even be found enjoyable by a white audience. I agree that to white readers who aren't readily thinking about how Hurston is reclaiming Black culture, these instances where the characters of the Muck seem to be experiencing heavily emphasized emotions can be funny and entertaining, in the way Wright feared.
The common White reader may read Hurston's book in the exact manner Wright mentions, however, I think there is an alternate reading for Hurston's Black readers to look deeper beyond the surface of the story. To see Black culture and community come together in a positive light, to reclaim that ability to live their lives that they were robbed of when minstrel shows were created, making entertainment out of Black life. Though I may be reading way too much into this, and it may be too far of a stretch for this book, I can't help but wonder if Hurston thought about this as she wrote. Furthermore, I wonder if Wright was ever able to see her book outside of the narrow view he read it in, and see this alternate story that didn't play into the hands of the whites as he so confidently described.
I completely agree with you. Knowing how Hurston went in and interviewed people from the area in which she wrote about, and the fact that she wrote in their native dialect to me solidifies the idea that she is talking about these characters and describing their lives, not to make fun of them in a minstrel setting as Wright suggests, but to show how valid and beautiful their lifestyle is. Not having white people in the novel further proves this I think, instead introducing racism as something that affects within the community -colorism - in ways not usually discussed, especially at the time.
ReplyDeleteI really like this interpretation of Hurston's cultural motives. In class we discussed Wright's claims of minstrelcy in order to please white readers, though I doubt Hurston was actually directing her scenes at a a white audience. Instead, her anthropological observations informed the scenes on the muck and brought literary value to previously dismissed communities.
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