Ethnic Modernisms - Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation

Sep 18, 2026

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Ethnic Modernisms explores how major twentieth-century women writers—Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Rhys—use modernist forms to stage cultural displacement and contested belonging. The study links themes of assimilation, immigration, racial nationhood, and exile to specific aesthetic strategies across novels and related media. It examines immigrant English, transnational perspectives, and Harlem Renaissance folklore, then turns to Rhys’s white mythologies and posthumanist angles. A comparative framework connects ethnicity to dislocation as an enabling artistic lens.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages217

Reading Time5 h 34 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction Ethnic Modernisms and Their Avant-Gardes

Chapter I Anzia Yezierska and the Experience of the Assimilated Jew

The New Immigration as Ethnic Catalyst

The Experience of Immigrant English in Hungry Hearts

The Conscious Pariah: Toward a Transnational Aesthetics

From Hollywood to Hester Street: The Image of the Assimilated Jew in Hungry Hearts the Film

Chapter II Black Folk Culture and the Aesthetics of Dislocation in Zora Neale Hurston

Race, Nation and Art: The Harlem Renaissance

The Folk in Harlem: Zora Neale Hurston’s Urban Folklore

The Transnational Perspective: The Experience of the African Diaspora in Tell My Horse and Moses, Man of the Mountain

“Getting in Touch with the True South”: Pet Negroes, White Crackers and Racial Staging in Seraph on the Suwanee

Chapter III White Mythologies: Jean Rhys’s Aesthetics of Posthumanism

Wide Sargasso Sea: White Masks and Their Creolization

An Expatriate among Expatriates: The Banality of Exile

Good Morning, Midnight: Commodity, Distraction, and the Displaced Masses

Concluding Remarks on the Marketability of Ethnicity

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Ethnic Modernisms Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation Delia Caparoso Konzett Ethnic Modernisms 􀀂 This page intentionally left blank Ethnic Modernisms 􀀂 Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation Delia Caparoso Konzett ETHNIC MODERNISMS Copyright © Delia Caparoso Konzett, 2002. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 0-312-29345-3 hardback Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Konzett, Delia Caparoso. Ethnic modernisms : Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the aesthetics of dislocation / by Delia Caparoso Konzett. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-312-29345-3 1. American literature—Women authors—History and criticism. 2. Emigration and immigration in literature. 3. Women and literature—United States—History—20th century. 4. Yezierska, Anzia, 1880?–1970—Criticism and interpretation. 5. American literature—20th century—History and criticism. 6. Hurston, Zora Neale—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Rhys, Jean—Criticism and interpretation. 8. African Americans in literature. 9. Ethnic groups in literature. 10. Expatriation in literature. 11. Immigrants in literature. 12. Modernism (Literature) 13. Jews in literature. I. Title. PS228 .E55 K66 2002 810.9’920691—dc21 2002069379 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Letra Libre, Inc. First edition: November 2002 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Dedications For Matthias & For My Parents, Antonio and Magdalina This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Permissions xi Abbreviations xiii Introduction Ethnic Modernisms and Their Avant-Gardes 1 Chapter I Anzia Yezierska and the Experience of the Assimilated Jew 19 Introduction The New Immigration as Ethnic Catalyst The Experience of Immigrant English in Hungry Hearts The Conscious Pariah: Toward a Transnational Aesthetics From Hollywood to Hester Street: The Image of the Assimilated Jew in Hungry Hearts the Film Chapter II Black Folk Culture and the Aesthetics of Dislocation in Zora Neale Hurston 69 Introduction Race, Nation and Art: The Harlem Renaissance The Folk in Harlem: Zora Neale Hurston’s Urban Folklore The Transnational Perspective: The Experience of the African Diaspora in Tell My Horse and Moses, Man of the Mountain “Getting in Touch with the True South”: Pet Negroes, White Crackers and Racial Staging in Seraph on the Suwanee Chapter III White Mythologies: Jean Rhys’s Aesthetics of Posthumanism 127 Introduction Wide Sargasso Sea: White Masks and Their Creolization An Expatriate among Expatriates: The Banality of Exile Good Morning, Midnight: Commodity, Distraction, and the Displaced Masses Concluding Remarks on the Marketability of Ethnicity 167 Notes 169 Works Cited 187 Index 197 Acknowledgments This study has benefited greatly from the help and commentary of Miriam Hansen, Katie Trumpener, Angel Medina, Mary Lou Emery, Donald Marshall, Charles Musser, and Matthias Konzett as well asthe excellent anonymous readers supplied by Palgrave. I would also like to thank the editors ofAmerican Lite

FAQs

What writers and themes does the book connect?

The book centers on Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Rhys, connecting their work to assimilation, immigration, racial nationhood, exile, and the aesthetics of dislocation.

How is the argument organized across the chapters?

Chapter I addresses Yezierska’s experience of the assimilated Jew and immigrant English, Chapter II examines Hurston’s black folk culture and transnational dislocation, and Chapter III analyzes Rhys’s white mythologies and posthumanist aesthetics.

What specific outcomes or conclusions are highlighted in Chapter III?

Chapter III includes concluding remarks on the marketability of ethnicity, framing how ethnic representation and displacement operate within Rhys’s literary approach.

Sep 18, 2026

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