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"Dawn and Doom Were in the Branches": Religious Tension in Zora Neale Hurston's Their eyes Were Watching God and Ernest J. Gaine's A Gathering of Old Men

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Date Issued:
2007
Summary:
Given that religion, specifically Christianity, plays such an important role in the creation, definition, and maturation of both Hurston ' s and Gaines’s characters, I believe it is imperative to evaluate the role that this religion plays in the lives of the black characters in two seminal texts by these two authors. Clearly religious concerns are at work throughout both texts, so too, then, is the issue of race in that the black characters, via their enslaved ancestors, inherited Christianity as they knew it from white slaveholders. Thus, the study of Christianity in the lives of black Southern characters necessarily must also address racism. This analysis, then, speaks to the role that white Christian ideology plays in the shaping of black Southern characters, in terms of both identity and religion.
Title: "Dawn and Doom Were in the Branches": Religious Tension in Zora Neale Hurston's Their eyes Were Watching God and Ernest J. Gaine's A Gathering of Old Men.
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Name(s): Benson, Kathryn A., Author
College of Arts & Sciences, Degree granting institution
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Issuance: single unit
Date Issued: 2007
Extent: 153 pgs.
Language(s): English
Summary: Given that religion, specifically Christianity, plays such an important role in the creation, definition, and maturation of both Hurston ' s and Gaines’s characters, I believe it is imperative to evaluate the role that this religion plays in the lives of the black characters in two seminal texts by these two authors. Clearly religious concerns are at work throughout both texts, so too, then, is the issue of race in that the black characters, via their enslaved ancestors, inherited Christianity as they knew it from white slaveholders. Thus, the study of Christianity in the lives of black Southern characters necessarily must also address racism. This analysis, then, speaks to the role that white Christian ideology plays in the shaping of black Southern characters, in terms of both identity and religion.
Identifier: fgcu_ETD_0465 (IID)
Degree Awarded: Master of Arts in English Language and Literature
Department: Department of Language & Literature
Committee Chair: James Brock, Ph.D.
Committee Member: Myra Mendible, Ph.D.
Subject(s): Hurston, Zora Neale
Gaines, Ernest J., 1933-2019
Religion in literature
African Americans in literature
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fgcu/fd/fgcu_ETD_0465
Use and Reproduction: Creator holds copyright.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FGCU