Racial Discrimination Against Black Women in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: An Analysis with A Sociology of Literature Approach

Safitri, Elisa (2025) Racial Discrimination Against Black Women in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: An Analysis with A Sociology of Literature Approach. S1 thesis, Universitas Andalas.

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Abstract

This study analyzes how Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) represents the discrimination experienced by Black women as a result of both racism and sexism. Using a sociology of literature approach supported by a mimetic framework, the novel is interpreted as a social document reflecting and criticizing the historical and cultural realities of early 20th-century America. The research employs qualitative descriptive analysis, focusing on the character of Janie Crawford and the novel’s intrinsic, plot, setting, point of view, and symbolism as supporting data to uncover the layered oppressions she faces. The findings reveal that Hurston portrays Black women as subjected to “double and multiple oppression” rooted in patriarchal and racial systems, including systemic racism, colorism, and the internalization of colonial values within the Black community. Janie’s journey from enforced silence toward self-discovery embodies resistance to entrenched power structures and reflects the broader struggle of Black women to assert identity and agency. By combining sociological and mimetic perspectives, this study demonstrates that Hurston’s work is not only a literary achievement but also a form of social critique that exposes and challenges overlapping injustices.

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