 | |
| Author | Zora Neale Hurston |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | J.B. Lippincott Company |
Publication date | 1934 |
| Publication place | United States |
| ISBN | 978-0-349-01222-3 |
Jonah's Gourd Vine is Zora Neale Hurston's 1934 debut novel.[1] The novel is a semi-autobiographical novel following John Buddy Pearson and his wife, Lucy. The characters share the same first names as Hurston's parents and make a similar migration from Notasulga, Alabama to Hurston's childhood home, Eatonville, Florida.[2]
Hurston wrote the novel after publisher Bertram Lippencott read "The Gilded Six-Bits" and demonstrated interest.[3] After its publication by J. B. Lippencott & Co, the novel received generally favorable reviews.[4] The novel's title derives from Jonah 4.6–10, using the gourd vine from the passage as a metaphor for the main character of the novel, a philandering preacher.[5]
The novel displays the experiences of Black life in the post-Reconstruction era.[6] Hurston explores themes including marital dysfunction, generational trauma, and testimony.[4]
- ^ Rogers, Michael (1990-11-01). "Classic Returns". Library Journal. 115 (19): 129. ISSN 0363-0277 – via EBSCO.
- ^ Hurston, Zora Neale (1984). Dust tracks on a road : an autobiography (2nd ed.). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01047-7. OCLC 11091136.
- ^ Jones, Sharon L. (2009). Critical companion to Zora Neale Hurston : a literary reference to her life and work. New York: Facts on File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing. ISBN 0-8160-6885-2. OCLC 213223153.
- ^ a b Miles, Diana (2003). Women, violence & testimony in the works of Zora Neale Hurston. New York: P. Lang. ISBN 0-8204-5751-5. OCLC 47844797.
- ^ Ciuba, Gary (2000-01-01). "The Worm against the Word: The Hermeneutical Challenge in Hurston's Jonah's Gourd Vine". African American Review. 34 (1): 119–133. doi:10.2307/2901188. JSTOR 2901188.
- ^ Peters, Pearlie Mae Fisher (1998). The assertive woman in Zora Neale Hurston's fiction, folklore, and drama. New York: Garland Pub. ISBN 0-8153-2888-5. OCLC 37682676.