num_pages: 224
description:      "Plant's study is sorely        needed at this point in the evolving critical assessment of Hurston. It        is a paradigm for the study of individual African American women writers."        -- Alice Deck, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign      In a ground-breaking study        of Zora Neale Hurston, Deborah Plant takes issue with current notions        of Hurston as a feminist and earlier impressions of her as an intellectual        lightweight who disregarded serious issues of race in American culture.        Instead, Plant calls Hurston a "writer of resistance" who challenged        the politics of domination both in her life and in her work. One of the        great geniuses of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston stands out as a strong        voice for African-American women. Her anthropological inquiries as well        as her evocative prose provide today's readers with a rich history of        African American folk culture, a folk culture through which Hurston expressed        her personal and political strategy of resistance and self-empowerment.      Through readings of Hurston's        fiction and autobiographical writings, Plant offers one of the first book-length        discussions of Hurston's personal philosophy of individualism and self-preservation.        From a discussion of Hurston's preacher father and influential mother,        whose guiding philosophy is reflected in the title of this book, to the        influence of Spinoza and Nietzsche, Plant puts into perspective the driving        forces behind Hurston's powerful prose.      This fresh look at one of        the most important writers of the twentieth century is sure to shape future        study of Hurston and her work. 
language: English
title: Every Tub Must Sit on Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston
titlecomplete: Every Tub Must Sit on Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston
ratings_count: 8
publisher: University of Illinois Press