Hurston, Zora N. ''Their Eyes were watching God''-Fr-En-Sp

tr. de Fr. Brosky Zora N. Hurston’s Their eyes were tr. de Andrés Ibañez notas
Par exemple, au cours de l’été,
lorsqu’elle entendait le rythme subtil et
envoûtant des tambours bahamiens, elle s’y
rendait et les regardait danser. Elle ne riait
pas avec mépris des « Scies », comme elle
avait entendu les gens le faire durant la
saison. Elle en vint à réellement les
apprécier, et Ptit-Four et elle allèrent les
retrouver tous les soirs, au point de se faire
taquiner par les autres. [247]
Et Janie fit la connaissance de Mrs. Janie came to know Mrs.
Turner. Elle l’avait aperçue à plusieurs Turner now. She had seen her
reprises au cours de la saison mais elles ne 15 several times during the season,
s’étaient jamais parlé. Maintenant, elles
devenaient copines-à-visitas.
Mrs. Turner était une femme laiteuse Mrs. Turner was a milky sort of a
qui avait toujours l’air sur le point 20 woman that belonged to child-bed. Her
d’accoucher. Ses épaules s’arrondissaient shoulders rounded a little, and she must
et elle devait avoir une conscience aiguë have been conscious of her pelvis
de son bassin, car elle le poussait en avant because she kept it stuck out in front of
afin de l’avoir toujours sous les yeux. her so she could always see it. Tea Cake
Ptit-Four se moquait souvent d’elle derrière 25 made a lot of fun about Mrs. Turner’s
son dos. Il prétendait qu’elle avait été shape behind her back. He claimed that
modelée par une vache qui lui avait envoyé she had been shaped up by a cow
une ruade au derrière. Qu’elle était une kicking her from be [133] hind. She was
planche à repasser sur laquelle on avait jeté an ironing board with things throwed
des trucs. Que lorsqu’elle était bébé, la 30 at it. Then that same cow took and
même vache lui avait marché sur la bouche,
lui laissant un museau large et plat et un
nez qui touchait quasi son menton.
Mais la silhouette et la physionomie de 35
Mrs. Turner recueillaient l’approbation
But Mrs. Turner’s shape and
features were entirely approved by
totale de Mrs. Turner. Son nez était Mrs. Turner. Her nose was slightly
légèrement en pointe et elle en était fière. pointed and she was proud. Her thin
Ses lèvres minces étaient un régal lips were an ever delight to her eyes.
permanent pour ses yeux. Même ses fesses 40 Even her buttocks in bas-relief were
en bas-relief lui étaient source d’orgueil. a source of pride. To her way of
Dans son idée, ces caractéristiques la thinking all these things set her aside
distinguaient des nègres. Voilà pourquoi from Negroes. That was why she
elle recherchait la compagnie [248] de sought out Janie to friend with.
Janie. Le teint café-crème de la jeune 45 Janie’s coffee-and-cream complexion
femme et sa chevelure luxuriante faisaient and her luxurious hair made Mrs.
que Mrs. Turner lui pardonnait de porter la Turner forgive her for wearing
salopette comme les femmes qui overalls like the other women who
travaillaient aux champs. Elle ne lui worked in the fields. She didn’t
pardonnait pas d’avoir épousé un homme 50 forgive her for marrying a man as dark
aussi foncé que Ptit-Four, mais elle était as Tea Cake, but she felt that she
convaincue qu’elle pouvait y remédier. could remedy that. That was what her
C’était pour cela que son frère était né. Elle brother was born for. She seldom
ne restait jamais longtemps si Ptit-Four était stayed long when she found Tea Cake
à la maison, mais lorsqu’elle pointait son 55 at home, but when she happened to
nez et trouvait Janie seule, elle passait des
heures à bavarder. Son sujet mé-favori,
c’était les nègres.
- Z’avez plus de cran qumoi. Quand 70
on a persuadé mon mari de descend’
“You got mo’ nerve than me. When
somebody talked mah husband intuh
ouvrir une gargote ici, j’aurais jamais comin’ down heah tuh open up uh eatin’
cru que tant dnèg’ différents pouvaient place Ah never dreamt so many different
s’amasser en un seul lieu. Jl’aurais su kins uh black folks could colleck in one
que jsrais pas venue. Jsuis pas 75 place. Did Ah never woulda come. Ah
habituée à fréquenter des Noirs. Mon
fils prétend qu’ils attirent la foud’. »
Elles eurent un petit rire et après bien des
For instance during the summer when
she heard the subtle but compelling
rhythms of the Bahaman drummers,
5 she’d walk over and watch the dances.
She did not laugh the “Saws” to
scorn as she had heard the people
doing in the season. She got to like
it a lot and she and Tea Cake were
10 on hand every night till the others
teased them about it.
but neither ever spoke. Now they
got to be visiting friends.
stepped in her mouth when she was a
baby and left it wide and flat with her
chin and nose almost meeting.
drop in and catch Janie alone, she’d
spend hours chatting away. Her
disfavorite subject was Negroes.
« Mis’ Woods, je dis souvent à mon 60
mari, «Moi, jcomprends pas comment une
“Mis’ Woods, Ah have often
said to mah husband, Ah don’t see
dame comme Mis’ Woods peut supporter how uh lady like Mis’ Woods can
cette bande de nèg’ vulgaires qui sont stand all them common niggers
toujours fourrés chez elle.»
round her place all de time.”
65
-Y mtracassent pas du-tout, Mis’ “They don’t worry me atall, Mis’
Turner. Le fait est qu’y mfont rigoler Turner. Fact about de thing is, they
avec leurs parleries.
tickles me wid they talk.”
ain’t useter ’ssociatin’ wid black folks.
Mah son claims dey draws lightnin’.”
They laughed a little and after many of
100
Por ejemplo, en verano, cuando oía
los sutiles pero irresistibles ritmos de
los percusionistas de las Bahamas, se
acercaba y contemplaba sus danzas. No
se reía de los «Saws» con desdén, como
había visto hacer a la gente durante la
temporada. Llegaron a gustarle mucho,
y ella y Tea Cake estaban allí todas las
noches, hasta que los otros les tomaron
el pelo.
Por entonces Janie conoció a la
señora Turner. La había visto varias
veces durante la temporada, pero
nunca habían hablado. Ahora se hicieron
amigas.
La señora Turner era una negra blancuzca
que siempre estaba pariendo. Tenía
los hombros un poco caídos y debía
de ser muy consciente de su pelvis porque
la proyectaba hacia afuera para tenerla
bien a la vista. Tea Cake hacía
siempre un montón de bromas sobre la
figura de la señora Turner vista de espaldas.
Pretendía que una vaca le había dado
forma coceándola por detrás. Era como
una tabla de planchar con cosas arrojadas
encima. Luego la misma vaca le había
pisoteado la boca cuando era un bebé
y le había dejado la cara aplastada y con
la nariz y la barbilla casi tocándose.
Pero el tipo y las facciones de la señora
Turner eran aprobados del todo por la propia
señora Turner. Su nariz era un poco puntiaguda
y ella estaba orgullosa. Sus finos labios
[158] eran una auténtica delicia para
sus ojos. Incluso sus nalgas en bajorrelieve
eran una fuente de orgullo. Desde su punto
de vista, todas estas características la alejaban
del común de los negros. Ésa era la razón
de que hubiera querido hacerse amiga
de Janie. La piel de color café con leche de
Janie y su exuberante cabellera habían bastado
para que la señora Turner le perdonara
que siempre llevara pantalones como las otras
mujeres que trabajaban en los campos. No le
perdonaba que se hubiera casado con un hombre
de piel tan oscura como Tea Cake, pero
pensaba que ella podía remediarlo. Para eso
había venido su hermano al mundo. Cuando
encontraba a Tea Cake en casa, raramente se
quedaba mucho rato, pero cuando se dejaba
caer por allí y pillaba a Janie a solas, se pasaba
horas charlando con ella. Los negros
eran el tema de sus diatribas.
—Señora Woods, se lo tengo dicho
a mi marío muchas veces, no me explico
cómo una dama como la señora
Woods pué soportar verse tó el día rodeada
de esos negros tan vulgare.
—A mí no me molestan en absoluto, señora
Turner. La verdá del caso es que me divierten
mucho las cosas que dicen.
—Tiene usté má aguante que yo. Cuando
alguien le dijo a mi marío que se viniera
aquí a abrir una casa de comidas, yo
nunca pude ni tan siquiera soñar que en
un solo sitio pudieran juntarse tan diferentes
clases de negros. Yo no estoy
acostumbrá a relacionarme con gente negra.
Mi hijo dice que atraen a los rayos.
Se rieron un poco y después de muchas
Janie and Mrs. Turner and tells Janie that he
doesn’t want Mrs. Turner around the house. He
plans to visit Mr. Turner to tell him to keep his
wife away, but when he meets the man on the
street, Tea Cake finds that he is a depressed,
passive man dominated by his wife and drained
by the deaths of several of his children. He gets
Janie to try to end her friendship with Mrs.
Turner. Janie acts coldly toward Mrs. Turner, but
the woman keeps visiting nonetheless. Mrs.
Turners worships whiteness, and Janie, by virtue
of her light skin and high-class demeanor,
represents an ideal for her. She disapproves of
Janie’s marriage to Tea Cake, but her opinions
matter little to them. The summer soon ends,
and the busy season begins again.
Analysis
The incident with Nunkie shows Janie’s need for
absolute monogamy with Tea Cake. Because he
wholly possesses her, she cannot bear the
thought that she does not wholly possess him.
Although the previous chapters establish the
inequalities in their relationship, this chapter
reveals that Janie is not willing to compromise
on important matters; their relationship must be
reciprocal. It is interesting to see how this
reciprocity is expressed. At the first moment of
reconciliation—the steamy passion that follows
their fight—they express themselves through
their bodies. Speech, however, remains the key
to Janie’s strength and identity; despite their
physical connection, Janie still needs Tea Cake
to tell her that he doesn’t love Nunkie.
Through Janie’s interactions with Mrs. Turner,
Chapter 16 provides the clearest perspective on
issues of race in the novel. Many critics
dismissed Their Eyes Were Watching God when
it was first published because of its atypical
discussion of race. At the time, most critics,
black and white alike, expected a novel by a
black author to deal with issues of race in stark,
political terms. Hurston’s presentation of race
and racism, however, is nuanced and remarkably
free of political diatribe. When discussing
Hurston’s perspective on race, one cannot
underestimate the effect of Franz Boas and his
anthropological outlook on her philosophy. Boas,
considered one of the most important
anthropologists of the 20th century, was
Hurston’s professor at Barnard College from
1925 to 1927. Instead of approaching race as a
marker of innate difference and inferiority, he
began to use anthropology to study race in cultural
terms, discussing, for example, how ideas
of racism circulate. Boas believed that race is
not the fundamental truth about a person or
group of people but rather a mere cultural
construct that affects the perception of a specific
person or group. Boas’s perspective was the
source of Hurston’s iconoclastic depiction of
racism: in the novel, racism is a mode of thought,
capable of seducing white and black alike, and,
as such, is a force larger than any particular
person or group.
Indeed, the narrator attributes near cosmic
significance to Mrs. Turner’s racism. In her
obsession with whiteness, she «like all the other
believers had built an altar to the unattainable,»
the narrator reveals, which seems to be a
comparison to Jody’s materialism and thirst for
power. This comparison destabilizes the gender
conventions that Hurston posits at the opening
of the novel: Mrs. Turner, as men do, watches a
metaphorical «Ships at a distance.» Hurston
does not dogmatically bind herself to her own
conception of gender differences. As Janie’s hair
can be both a site of feminine beauty and a
phallic symbol, Mrs. Turner can worship false
gods like male characters.
The narrator’s meditation on Mrs. Turner’s
racism also occasions stylistic variation. When
describing ordinary events, the narrator often
employs language that resonates with the dialect
of the novel’s characters. The Chapter 16
sentence, «That is why she sought out Janie to
friend with,» for example, turns the noun «friend»
into a verb and ends with a preposition, violating
a convention of Standard Written English.
Indeed, the narrator sounds like an educated
Janie. This subtle incorporation of black dialect
into the narrator’s voice integrates the dialogue
and narration into a workable whole: the
narration and dialogue do use very different
styles, but one can hear the echo of the dialogue
in the narration, and this echo helps to glue