The Transformation of the South as Presented in the Literature of Southern African American Women: Harriet Jacobs, Octavia Rogers, and Zora Neale Hurston

Abstract

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs, The House of Bondage (1890) by Octavia Rogers Albert, and Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston provide accounts of historical time periods as represented in literature that give more detail than history books alone ever could. The memoir of Jacobs, written under the pseudonym "Linda Brent", documents the horrors of slavery and shows that female slaves were considered of no value. It also provides a firsthand account of the harsh mistreatment endured, and the breakdown of the family structure. Jacobs also discusses the moral discrepancies that existed between slave owners and Christian practices. Albert also discussed religion and plight of slaves in the Southern United States and showed that the conditions existed not for one, but for many, through interviews with former slaves. Hurston's work shares many of the same themes, but presents them with a new style of writing that shows blacks in the South were more than their past; that they were humans with emotions and desires. When one looks at the works of Jacobs, Albert, and Hurston, one can, through analysis based on theoretical perspectives of New Historicism, Feminism and Realism, recognize commonalities of theme and symbolism that are unique and enlightening blue-prints for a better understanding of slavery and its aftereffects.