Abstract: Their Eyes Were Watching God was considered to be one of the most representative masterpieces of Hurston which manifested Hurston’s perfect combination as a creative artist and an experienced folklorist. This novel recounted the growth and self-affirmation of an Afro-American female from a weak and ignorant girl to an independent and strong-willed woman, thus to arouse black female’s consciousness of regaining freedom and equality through the mastering of their own destinies. Therefore, the paper is based on the literary theory of narratology, which aims to analyze the narrative art of Their Eyes Were Watching God in term of narrative structure, narrative tone, narrative language and narrative perspective to discuss significance of the narrative art in characters- shaping, plot-developing and theme-deepening. 

Key words: narratology, narrative structure, narrative tone, narrative language, narrative perspective

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. The Narrative Structure-3

2.1 A Story within Story-4

2.2 The Circular Structure-6

2.3 The Linear Structure-8

3. The Narrative Tone-9

3.1 The Slave Narrative-9

3.2 The Slave Narrative Tone-10

4. The Narrative Language-11

4.1 Free Indirect Speech-12

4.2 Black English-13

4.2.1 Special Spelling-14

4.2.2 Unusual Expression-15

5. The Narrative Perspective-16

5.1 Focalization-17

5.2 The Female Narrative Perspective-18

6. Conclusion-19

References-22