The social meaning of men's and women's voices in Charles W. Chesnutt's The House Behind the Cedars and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, 2016

Walker, ShaTriece L.

2010-2019

Language and voice are studied in fiction to understand how characters masculinity and femininity are depicted. This study examines the meaning of mens and womens voices in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Charles Chesnutts The House Behind the Cedars. Both authors portray their characters with realistic emotions that reflect American and African-American culture. Janie struggles to discover her own voice and womanhood after two unsuccessful marriages; however, in her third marriage, Janie begins to use her voice and establish herself as a woman. Similarly, Rena neglects her black identity and finds difficulty in adjusting to white society. However, she uses her voice to illustrate her strength and accepts her blackness. This study analyzes the significance of idiolects and physiological meanings that help depict mens and womens voices in the novels. The research demonstrates the importance of mens and womens voices and how they contribute to characters maturation. KEY TERMS: occupations, African American, foklore, language, sociological, society, Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication, Linguistics, Psychology, Speech and Rhetorical Studies

text

application/pdf

2016-12-16

thesis

Master of Arts (MA)

Clark Atlanta University

English

Osinubi, Viktor
Montgomery, Georgene Bess
Wright, Susan

Clark Atlanta University

Georgia--Atlanta

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2016_walker_shatriece_l