While reading Their Eyes Were Watching God something that really stood out to me was the use of African-American vernacular throughout the novel. The characters used in when they were talking and the narrator even slipped into at times. I found this to be one of my favorite aspects of the book and felt as though it added another layer to the book as well. However, to be honest, I also found it to be one of the most challenging things about the book. I would often have to reread sections of dialogue to make sure I understood what was being said. I would also sometimes read the words as they were written but try to connect them to the "proper words". I felt like that took away from the novel.
As a result, I was thinking about ways to deal with that problem. The first thing that jumped into my head was an audiobook. I thought it would be awesome to actually hear the dialogue as opposed to just hearing it in your head. So I went and found an audiobook version of Their Eyes Were Watching God and listened to the part of the book where Janie is in the store listening to people on the porch. I must say that I really liked it. The dialogue just seemed so much more natural when I was just listening to it as opposed to reading it. The only problem I had with it was that all of the characters had a similar voice. Even though the reader was changing her voice a little it was just a little off and I thought that having each character have their own unique voice would be even better.
That made me remember listening to a radio play a few years ago and how each character had their own voice actor. I think that that would be the best way to listen to Their Eyes Were Watching God. Imagine how awesome it would be for each character to have their own recognizable voice. Because of that, I think that a radio play would be one of the best mediums to experience the story through.
I agree with you, the vernacular definitely adds something unique to the novel and all of the characters. I feel like it really helps to immerse the reader in Janie's world and give definition to some of the characters and their actions. And in that way, a radio play would make for a really immersive experience that would make it even better. I'd imagine that there would be challenges with some of the other scenes in the novel (like a hurricane), but other than that, I really like your ideas.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of TEWWG is how the whole book reads like epic poetry, especially the dialect-dialogue. That was one of Hurston's points-- dialect doesn't necessarily have to imply unintelligent or simple: instead, it has a beauty all its own, impossible to represent in another way. Imagine the book written all in standard English! I think the immsersiveness of dialect also makes the dialogue stand out from the narration, giving an oral, storytelling feel. It almost seems like Hurston (or perhaps Janie) is telling the story and acting out her own voices for Phoeby.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really smart idea. I really think "Their Eyes Were Watching God" would make an amazing movie (if done right.) Dialectic language is definitely easier to understand when spoken vs when written especially when you aren't used to that specific dialect.
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