Introduction [excerpt] I argue that Jackson and Oyeyemi escape the underlying patriarchal connontations of the novel and writing by creating temporal spaces within their texts for the purpose of discussing gender issues facing middle-class women at their time. By placing temporal space within the houses, Jackson and Oyeyemi demonstrate that both social norms and change are born in the home. Analyzing the writing techniques of these authors, I address the social commentary made within each novel. In Chapter 1, I...

Introduction [excerpt]

Zora Neale Hurston is a renowned author, folklorist, anthropologist, and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston infused Southern vernacular and poetic expression to produce an unprecedented narrative voice.... I argue that Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is a modern folktale intended to expose and reconstruct the repetitive paradigms of racial and gender ... inequality while creating a new consciousness of egalitarianism.