Cultural Contexts, Linguistic Choices, and Women’s Representation: A Cross-Contextual Feminist Stylistic Analysis of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Ahmad Ali’s Twilight in Delhi

Abstract

This paper investigates the discursive portrayal of female characters in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Ahmad Ali’s Twilight in Delhi through the perspective of feminist stylistics. The study aims to uncover how linguistic and discursive strategies construct female voices, agency, and subjectivity within two distinct cultural contexts. Drawing on Sara Mills’ model of feminist stylistics, the analysis focuses on aspects such as naming practices, narrative voice, silence, and gendered discrimination. Findings suggest that Hurston, as a female author, creates more spaces for women’s resistance and empowerment but all suffer due to patriarchy, while Ali’s text tends to reinforce traditional patriarchal ideologies, though not without traces of ambiguity. The comparative study highlights the role of authorial ideology and cultural context in shaping the discursive construction of women through their choice of words.