Deconstructive Discourse in Their Eyes were Watching God

• Main Authors: محمدرضا نوراللهی راوری, شیده احمدزاده
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Shahid Beheshti University 2017-02-01
• Series: Naqd-i Zabān va Adabīyyāt-i Khārijī
• Subjects: گفتمان وا‌ساز، مرکز محوری، دوگانه‌های متضاد، زورا نیل هِرستون، چشم‌هایشان خدا را می‌نگریست
• Online Access: http://clls.sbu.ac.ir/article/view/12776
• ISSN: 2008-7330; 2588-7068

The present article studies the deconstructive discourse in Their Eyes were Watching God byZora NealeHurston, the first African-American female writer. Studies on some major Black feminist novels reveal that these women make discourse work against their oppression. A significant feature of African-American women’s discourse is the deconstruction of the logo-centric principles that for decades have deprived many minority groups of ‘voice’; therefore, to overthrow the logo-centric systematic, Black women in their discourse make use of elements that are negatively defined in that system by the dominant class. Of the major elements of this discourse, we can refer to: silence, violence, madness, lesbianism, irrationality, etc. As such, it is suggested that the discourse should be called ‘deconstructive discourse’. To demonstrate how Black women make strategic use of deconstructive discourse, Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is studied in detail. In this novel Janie’s final act of subversion is the murdering of her lover and at the same time her last husband which sets her free from all patriarchal restrictions and prescriptions. Her silence in her subsequent trial in front of an all-white and all-male jury implies the insignificance of the white patriarchy.The present research has been conducted using deconstruction especially through its denial of any center.