Mules and Men

“It is the great merit of Miss Hurston’s work that she entered into the homely life of the southern Negro as one of them and was fully accepted as such by the companions of her childhood. Thus she has been able to penetrate through that affected demeanor by which the Negro excludes the White observer effectively from participating in his true inner life.”

This quote, written by Hurston’s professor and mentor Franz Boas, introduces her work. His acknowledgment of her “merit” is an accolade, as Hurston confided in Boas that she felt her work was unworthy of publication. His discussion of the “affected demeanor” used by Black people to “exclude” white people offers interesting insight into the field of anthropology at this time: The emerging rejection of scientific racism allows for development of research that eventually becomes inclusionary.

“Folklore is not as easy to collect as it sounds. The best source is where there are the least outside influences and these people, being usually under-privileged, are the shyest. They are most reluctant at times to reveal that which the soul lives by.”

Hurston concisely explains some of the difficulties in conducting ethnographic research and compiling folklore stories. “Outside influences” can affect this type of research because people behave differently when they know they are being observed. The “people” she refers to in the second and third sentences are the Black people from whom she will elicit the stories. She highlights that “under-privileged” groups are typically unfamiliar with the formalization of their traditional practices because of racist practices and ideologies perpetuated in white-centric academia.

“Well, they hides all de girls behind a curtain and you stick out yo’ toe. [...] When all de toes is in a line, sticking out from behind de sheet they let de men folks in and they looks over all de toes and buys de ones they want for a dime. Then they got to treat de lady dat owns dat toe to everything she want.”

This quote, spoken by an unnamed woman, explains how a “toe-party” works. This quote illuminates a specific community game while introducing readers to Hurston’s linguistic representation of African American English. Her representation of African American English is essential in accomplishing Hurston’s goal of appealing to “average” readers while maintaining an authentic representation of her research subjects.