Reading Zora Neale Hurston’s Textual Synthesis in Jonah’s Gourd Vine and Moses, Man of the Mountain

In ‘Spirituals and Neo-Spirituals’, an essay written for inclusion in Nancy Cunard’s Negro anthology, Hurston offers a parable to illustrate differences between African American and European styles of singing and preaching:

With a nod to Boasian cultural relativism, Hurston identifies a collage-like pattern at the heart of African American culture, affirming her argument in ‘Characteristics of Negro Expression’. For Hurston, the African American’s artistic impulse is primarily decorative, to individualize and pattern a private space. By contrast, the white man’s urge to produce clear lines and smooth surfaces is a public gesture of authority, which masks processes of construction. He even employs a labourer to complete the work.