Splitting of self is described as central to the experience of black men (DuBois, Johnson), but Johnson relates it even more closely to women. “Janie’s increasing ability to speak grows out of her ability to assume and articulate the incompatible forces involved in her own division. The sign of an authentic voice is thus not self-identity but self-difference.” The experience of finding two parts to the self is what’s necessary for voice, not being unified. This seems to me an important essay from a prominent Derridean and poststructuralist. (“Metaphor, Metonymy, and Voice in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Ed. Mary Ann Caws. Textual Analysis: Some Readers Reading. NY: MLA, 1986: 232-44.)
