n historical time and space. “Black male writers, throughout most of the twentieth century have seen the issues of justice, equality and respect for the ‘race’ affecting black folk as being more suitable for fictional recreations of black life because these issues were more important for the vast majority of black folk.” Conversely, black women writers have generally taken the opposite stance saying the black community should have been the central focus. (Story 28) Consequently, black male writers tend to critique Hurston’s novels negatively. Confirming this is the fact that even today contemporary black women writers are more sympathetic and have a more specific understanding of Hurston’s unappreciated work than do black male writers. Despite disparaging criticism from her male counterparts, Hurston’s works developed a distinctive female voice in literature. Her work represents the diversity and complexity of African American female writing at the turn of the century. Those who loved Hurston like Alice Walker and Robert Hemenway thought her a controversial, but brilliant feminist. Hurston has stirred the emotions of critics and devotees in a variety of ways. As an African American female from the rural south who challenged racial, class, and sexual, assumptions in her writing, Hurston has become an Jenkins 5icon for many African American and women’s studies scholars interested in authors promoting feminist and black national aesthetics. Her studies of literature and anthropology at Howard University and Barnard College provided her with a critical method for viewing individuals at all levels of society. It cannot be denied that Hurston’s works deserve literary and scholarly attention from all people because of the universal themes confronted, view of individuals at all levels of society, and the representation of diversity and complexity of the African American female at ...
