Creating Ethnography: Zora Neale Hurston and Lydia Cabrera

African American Review, Fall, 2005 by Lynda Hoffman-Jeep

However, as Hernandez concludes, Hurston does not exploit the authoritative potential that she possesses, but rather portrays the demise of authority in her text by ultimately destabilizing her own interpretive authority (161). An excellent example of Hurston's honesty and respect for tellers and tales is the first story in the collection, one woven into the introduction: "The Tale of the Soul-stealing Jew" (3-4). Basalla offers a precise interpretation of the tale, concluding that, "By using herself as an informant, she assures us, and herself, that she will not misuse or misrepresent the people who speak in her collection" (127-29). Continuing her research between 1928 and 1931, Hurston made forays to Alabama and various locations in Florida, and her travels to New Orleans, Nassau, and the Bahamas enabled her to complete her collections for what would ultimately become Mules and Men. (16)

Cabrera also reflects upon the demands of maneuvering through the Black enclaves of Havana, necessary to gain and maintain the trust of her lifelong informants:

   Ganarse la confianza de estos viejos,
   fuentes vivas inapreciables a punto de
   agotarse sin que nadie entre nosotros
   se de prisa en aprovecharlos para el
   estudio de nuestro folklore, no es siempre
   tarea facil. Ponen a prueba la
   paciencia del investigador, le toman un
   tiempo considerable. Se tarda en comprender
   sus eufemismos, sus supersticiones
   de lenguaje, pues hay cosas que
   no deben decirse jamas por lo claro y
   es preciso aprender a entenderlos, esto
   es, aprender a pensar como ellos. Hay
   que someterse a sus caprichos y
   resabios, a sus estados de animo, adaptarse
   a sus horas, deshoras y demoras
   desesperantes, hacer meritos, emplear
   las astucia en ciertas ocasiones y esperar
   sin prisa. (qtd. in Soto 41)

   [To gain the confidence of these old
   people, invaluable living sources about
   to fade away without whom none of
   us could rush to take advantage of the
   study of our folklore, was not always
   an easy task. They challenge the
   patience of the investigator; they take a
   considerable amount of time. If one is
   slow in understanding their
   euphemisms, their superstitions about
   language, since there are things that
   should never be stated clearly, and it is
   necessary to learn how to understand
   them, that is to learn how to think as
   they do. One must submit to their
   caprices and bad habits, to their
   moods, adapt to their hours, to their
   tardiness, and infuriating procrastinating,
   build up one's credibility, employ
   cunning at certain times and wait
   patiently.]

Both writers faced considerable challenges when conducting fieldwork, although those hurdles differed in nature. On the one hand, Basalla quotes a letter Hurston wrote to her mentor Ruth Benedict that describes the difficulty of addressing those informants who are exceptionally critical of her motivation in collecting their folktales (63-65). Cabrera, on the other hand, does not mention this type of resistance in particular, but continually faced a mountain of secrecy surrounding Afro-Cuban religious practice.