ABSTRACT
In "Characteristics of Negro Expression", Zora Neale Hurston reveals her primary purpose: to explore the implications of mimicry as the key element of African American expression. The essay aims to document instances of black vernacular expression in a way that does justice to their actual manifestations. It then aims to use these pieces of documentation to convey the world view Hurston believes is most authentically "Negro". "Characteristics" received little attention on first publication and was out of print until 1970. By then, cultural contexts had changed and the essay was seen as a historical document. One major conceptual limitation in the essay concerns Hurston's intermittent characterization of black culture as "primitive". At the time many accounts of "Negro" inferiority asserted that the inferiority of African American people stemmed from African civilizations being more primitive than their European counterparts. By documenting instances of African American culture, Hurston shows how black culture has indelibly shaped the nation as a whole.
