Abstract: Zora Neale Hurston is one of the most important figures of 20th century American literature. She spent her whole life fighting for the maintenance of black cultural traditions. Her most popular work Their Eyes Were Watching Gods is the first black literature work to demonstrate the awakening of female consciousness in black women. Many literary critics have done a lot of research on the feminist themes, the narrative strategies, the plump images, the poetic language, etc in this novel. But few researchers use the theory of signification to research this novel. Therefore, based on Little Henry Louis Gates’ theory of signification, this paper attempts to study the signifying images in this work. Little Henry Louis Gates points out in his theory how black literature expresses consciously in white culture, thus highlighting the function of discourse of their own. This paper mainly focuses on the images in the novel, such as pear tree and honeybee, the mule, horizon, and clothing, and explores how the writer expresses her views about relationships, black women’s self-seeking, and marriage through these images.

Key words: Their Eyes Were Watching God; the signifying images; female; self-pursuit

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction.1

1.1 Introduction to the Author and the Novel

1.2 General Explanation of the Theory of Signification

2. Literature Review3

3.The Signifying Images in Their Eyes Were Watching Gods.4

3.1 Mule──Black Women

3.2 Pear Tree and Honeybee──The Relations between the sexes    

3.3 Clothes (Apron, Turban and Overalls)──Three Marriages

3.4 Horizon──The Black Women’s self-seeking

4.Conclusions9

Bibliography.11

Acknowledgements12