ABSTRACT
Zora Neale Hurston, the author of the essay "Characteristics of Negro Expression", was born in Notasulga, Alabama, in 1891. In 1918, Hurston began studying at Howard University in Washington, DC. In the 1920s, Hurston became a fixture in the movement later known as the "Harlem Renaissance". Hurston began ethnographic research on African American folklore under the guidance of the famous anthropologist Franz Boas. This research would later influence "Characteristics", published in 1934, and her book Mules and Men, published in 1935. In this "Characteristics of Negro Expression", Hurston outlines the defining features of African American cultural expression. To Hurston, black culture "lives and moves in the midst of white civilization". The essay argues that black expression actively shapes American culture generally. The essay has both historical and theoretical importance. It clarifies the different critical trends of the Harlem Renaissance, while providing several lenses through which to view Hurston's own fiction.
