ABSTRACT
Zora Neale Hurston's essay stands as a seminal text of twentieth-century African American literature. It presents an aesthetic theory of black expression that portrays the features of black art as singular and innovative. "Characteristics" concentrates on form rather than content, and the original, unique modes of expression black people employ. The essay argues for a notion of American society itself as an exchange of cultural practices between groups. While Hurston was primarily concerned with the exchange between African American and white cultures, American society in the twenty-first century only opens new contexts for a Hurston-inspired analysis of increasing sociocultural diversity. Hurston, who died in poverty in 1960 with her work relegated to obscurity, would no doubt take heart to see the reputation her essay enjoys more than 80 years after its publication. For its originality in interpreting and embodying what makes African American art vital, Hurston's "Characteristics of Negro Expression" remains a critical touchstone.
