Bachelor Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics - English - History of Literature, Eras, grade: 2,6, Technical University of Braunschweig (Englisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: Excerpt from the Introduction: Before defining the phenomenon of passing in its social, cultural, and historical backgrounds and origins, motives and appearances in former and present times of American society, and, specifically, analysing its representation in literature, it might be fruitful to have a look at the genesis of the Afro American novel throughout the last two centuries.(...) The main challenge of the African American author can be illustrated as a kind of ridge walk between, on the one hand, assimilation as a means of improving career prospects and social recognition, and, on the other hand, documenting the historical and socio-cultural facts of the struggles of their social group such as the ambiguities of crossing the color line in the form of the act of passing for white. This aspect of intra-racial conflict between individual success, and the moral of earnestness and showing loyalty to one's black fellows is only one aspect to be dealt with in this thesis.(...)The loss of (cultural) individuality and physical consciousness (...)has played a central role in Afro American literature and can be seen as one of the driving forces encouraging the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 30s in trying to establish and celebrate the cultural identity of African Americans (Göbel 2001). (...) The aim of this paper will be, firstly, to describe the main conflicts of African American history and culture. Secondly, it will point to the impacts resulting from these struggles before. In a third step, the act of passing as a means to fight these struggles will be closely examined in its origin and multiple ways of happening, in context with cultural processes within American society as well as its representation in literature, mainly the Afro American novel. Th

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - History of Literature, Eras, grade: 2,6, Technical University of Braunschweig (Englisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: Excerpt from the Introduction: Before defining the phenomenon of passing in its social, cultural, and historical backgrounds and origins, motives and appearances in former and present times of American society, and, specifically, analysing its representation in literature, it might be fruitful to have a look at the genesis of the Afro American novel throughout the last two centuries.(...) The main challenge of the African American author can be illustrated as a kind of ridge walk between, on the one hand, assimilation as a means of improving career prospects and social recognition, and, on the other hand, documenting the historical and socio-cultural facts of the struggles of their social group such as the ambiguities of crossing the color line in the form of the act of passing for white. This aspect of intra-racial conflict between individual success, and the moral of earnestness and showing loyalty to one’s black fellows is only one aspect to be dealt with in this thesis.(...)The loss of (cultural) individuality and physical consciousness (...)has played a central role in Afro American literature and can be seen as one of the driving forces encouraging the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 30s in trying to establish and celebrate the cultural identity of African Americans (Göbel 2001). (...) The aim of this paper will be, firstly, to describe the main conflicts of African American history and culture. Secondly, it will point to the impacts resulting from these struggles before. In a third step, the act of passing as a means to fight these struggles will be closely examined in its origin and multiple ways of happening, in context with cultural processes within American society as well as its representation in literature, mainly the Afro American novel. The main part will be the study of two selective novels by the two authors listed in the title of this paper, James Weldon Johnson (The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, 1912), and Nella Larsen (Passing, 1929), for several reasons. Considering the time in which their literary works gained literary reputation it can be argued that they both belong to the main advocates of the Harlem Renaissance. Moreover, the two novels under scrutiny here can be considered two of the most relevant “passing novels”, which found in the topic of passing one of their most significant theoretical inputs as well as expressive outputs in the history of this sub-genre of Afro American literature.

Larsen and other African-American writers, including James Weldon Johnson, explored the intricacies and contradictions of the concept of race at the beginning of the 20th century, in particular by addressing the phenomenon of 'passing'. Passing has many definitions, most often it is associated with the term 'passing for white', which implies the crossing of the colour line from black to white in order to transcend racial barriers. Until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, writers hardly had addressed the passing figure in literature. Passing has always been a much camouflaged topic because the successful passer does not want their identity to be uncloaked. This constitutes probably also the main reason why only little, and rather pioneering, research has been conducted up to today and why it still remains difficult to investigate the issue. The sole witnesses of the concepts of passing in the time period are passing narratives. James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man (1912), Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928) and her novella Passing (1929) are perhaps the most exemplary examples of an analysis of the passing figure and classic epitomes of the racial situations during the Harlem Renaissance. The novels challenge stereotypes of race and disclose concepts of doubleness and visibility. In order to disentangle the complexities of the theme, these novels, will serve to examine in depth in the nature and the motifs of the phenomenon of passing. In this book, I will be exploring the motifs of passing in these novels of the Harlem Renaissance in the context of DuBois' concept of double consciousness and the discourse of race. Chapter One will set the critical historical and cultural context for the passing narratives, as this is indispensable and crucial for the understanding of the motifs of the theme. With this in mind, the second Chapter will account for what destabilizes the African-American identity and thus identify the motives of p

This book offers an insightful study of the significance of passing novels for the literary and intellectual debate of the Harlem Renaissance. Author Mar Gallego effectively uncovers the presence of a subversive component in five of these novels (by James Weldon Johnson, George Schuyler, Nella Larsen, and Jessie Fauset), turning them into useful tools to explore the passing phenomenon in all its richness and complexity. Her compelling study intends to contribute to the ongoing revision of the parameters conventionally employed to analyze passing novels by drawing attention to a great variety of textual strategies such as double consciousness, parody, and multiple generic covers. Examining the hybrid nature of these texts, Gallego skillfully highlights their radical critique of the status quo and their celebration of a distinct African American identity. Well researched and stimulating to read, Passing Novels in the Harlem Renaissance is an impressive work of scholarship and interpretat

Passing and the Rise of the African American Novel restores to its rightful place a body of American literature that has long been overlooked, dismissed, or misjudged. This insightful reconsideration of nineteenth-century African-American fiction uncovers the literary artistry and ideological complexity of a body of work that laid the foundation for the Harlem Renaissance and changed the course of American letters. Focusing on the trope of passing -- black characters lightskinned enough to pass for white -- M. Giulia Fabi shows how early African-American authors such as William Wells Brown, Frank J. Webb, Charles W. Chesnutt, Sutton E. Griggs, James Weldon Johnson, Frances E. W. Harper, and Edward A. Johnson transformed traditional representations of blackness and moved beyond the tragic mulatto motif. Celebrating a distinctive, African-American history, culture, and worldview, these authors used passing to challenge the myths of racial purity and the color line. Fabi examines how early black writers adapted existing literary forms, including the sentimental romance, the domestic novel, and the utopian novel, to express their convictions and concerns about slavery, segregation, and racism. She also gives a historical overview of the canon-making enterprises of African-American critics from the 1850s to the 1990s and considers how their concerns about crafting a particular image for African-American literature affected their perceptions of nineteenth-century black fiction.

Passing refers to the process whereby a person of one race, gender, nationality, or sexual orientation adopts the guise of another. Historically, this has often involved black slaves passing as white in order to gain their freedom. More generally, it has served as a way for women and people of color to access male or white privilege. In their examination of this practice of crossing boundaries, the contributors to this volume offer a unique perspective for studying the construction and meaning of personal and cultural identities. These essays consider a wide range of texts and moments from colonial times to the present that raise significant questions about the political motivations inherent in the origins and maintenance of identity categories and boundaries. Through discussions of such literary works as Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, The Autobiography of an Ex–Coloured Man, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Hidden Hand, Black Like Me, and Giovanni’s Room, the authors examine issues of power and privilege and ways in which passing might challenge the often rigid structures of identity politics. Their interrogation of the semiotics of behavior, dress, language, and the body itself contributes significantly to an understanding of national, racial, gender, and sexual identity in American literature and culture. Contextualizing and building on the theoretical work of such scholars as Judith Butler, Diana Fuss, Marjorie Garber, and Henry Louis Gates Jr., Passing and the Fictions of Identity will be of value to students and scholars working in the areas of race, gender, and identity theory, as well as U.S. history and literature. Contributors. Martha Cutter, Katharine Nicholson Ings, Samira Kawash, Adrian Piper, Valerie Rohy, Marion Rust, Julia Stern, Gayle Wald, Ellen M. Weinauer, Elizabeth Young

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1.3, University of Freiburg, course: Hauptseminar African American Literature, language: English, abstract: In this paper, I will examine the theme of racial passing in African American narratives more closely by defining the term ‘passing’ more explicitly, and by giving a brief overview of the historical circumstances that led light-skinned African Americans to pass as white. Subsequently, I will focus on how racial passing is represented in literature written by African American authors. Therefore, I chose two novels that are commonly considered to be quintessential texts dealing with the phenomenon of racial passing, namely James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man and Nella Larsen’s Passing. I will argue that the process of racial passing is an ongoing one, proceeding in three stages ...