Louis Armstrong and Zora Neale Hurston: on the Re-Calibration of Time in Early Twentieth Century America

This paper explores the re-conception of time in Modernist America's music and literary arts. Beyond tempo, time encompasses the organization of rhythmic elements that create motion and counter-motion, allowing the interplay of voices to express complex patterns and themes. Time can be seen as a flexible framework that outlines the possible movements of musical notes or narrative moments. Louis Armstrong established a model for musical phrasing that guided jazz soloists throughout the twentieth century. His solos challenged mechanical clock time by creating melodic conversations in a more fluid temporal shape. This resulted in a personal and unique voice, utilizing shifting nodes of time to achieve an unprecedented degree of expression. Similarly, Zora Neale Hurston restructured time in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God through the use of music, reflecting characters’ inner experiences and the rhythms of life. Hurston diverged from canonical rhythm and form, drawing on the speech patterns of southern rural blacks to expand her rhythmic and expressive possibilities. This irregular speech introduced alternative rhythms, allowing Hurston to create new voices on both individual and communal levels. Together, Armstrong and Hurston illustrate how re-calibrating time in their respective arts created innovative and expressive forms, enriching the cultural landscape of early twentieth-century America.