Date of Award
5-2015
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
MA in Women's History
Department
Women’s History Graduate Program
Abstract
This thesis explores the life and anthropological merits of Zora Neale Hurston’s literary works. I focus specifically on Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road to bring to light her critique of Western society. This thesis argues that Hurston purposefully utilized anthropology as a tool to switch the anthropological gaze upon white Western culture, thereby constructing the West as “other.” She masterfully bridges the gap between two disciplines: literature and anthropology. Through this argument I highlight just how academia has overlooked Hurston’s scholarly voice in Dust Tracks on a Road, as well as answer the question: how will our reading of Hurston change if we view her in this new light? Overall, this project establishes a different narrative regarding the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston, one of America’s most controversial African American writers of the Twentieth Century. In this creation of a new narrative, it is my hope that this thesis will add to the field of Women’s History.
Recommended Citation
Sanchez, Natasha Tatiana, "“He can read my writing but he sho’ can’t read my mind”: Zora Neale Hurston and the Anthropological Gaze" (2015). Women's History Theses. 5.
https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/womenshistory_etd/5