Mulatto Womanhood and Literary Traditions in Nella Larsen's "Passing" E-Book

Kathrin Hoffmann

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, Free University of Berlin, language: English, abstract: The 1850 United States Census offered for the first time three options in the category of color: In addition to ‘white’ and ‘black,’ the option of ‘mulatto’ was introduced (Douglas and Yates 44). The idea for this inclusion was forwarded by the northern states of the U.S. as the South was not keen on acknowledging any mixing of the races: A mulatto or mulatta is a child born to one white and one black parent. During slavery, thousands of mulatto children were born to slave mothers and white free men, most often the masters of the women. Due to the one-drop rule (which classified anyone with as little as one drop of African blood as black), these children inherited the race and status from their mothers.In the 1920s, when the author Nella Larsen came to fame, the ‘color line’ between black and white Americans was drawn more sharply than ever before (cf. Kaplan xv). As mulattoes and mulattas can be of a very light complexion, they are predestined to ‘pass’ for white. This means that they can cross the constructed color line and live as white people. There are various, widely differing, guesses as to how many mulatto and black people passed in the late 1920s: The numbers range from 5,000 people in the U.S.each year to 75,000 people in only one city per day (cf. Kaplan xv). The concept of passing created two distinct feelings. The fact that people could simply assume another racial identity created fascination, on the one hand, and terror, on the other hand. The two protagonists of Nella Larsen’sPassing (1929), Irene and Clare, are mulattas. Though they have grown up together, they have made different choices and lead different lives: Clare has passed for white formany years, whereas Irene has stayed within the black community.A detailed comparison shows that these two women do not only represent different options for mulatto people, but that they also share characteristics. As far as character types are concerned, Clare represents the tragic mulatta. Yet Larsen puts forth a revision of this literary tradition and character type. Irene exemplifies the moral black bourgeoisie, though it becomes evident that Larsen distances herself from Irene and the black bourgeoisie’s morals and ethics. Irene, in addition, also possesses tragic elements. Despite representing different character types, both Irene and Clare are the literary descendants of Iola Leroy, title character of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s novel Iola Leroy; or, Shadows Uplifted.

Leseprobe

Impressum:

Copyright (c) 2015 GRIN Verlag / Open Publishing GmbH, alle Inhalte urheberrechtlich geschützt. Kopieren und verbreiten nur mit Genehmigung des Verlags.

Bei GRIN macht sich Ihr Wissen bezahlt! Wir veröffentlichen kostenlos Ihre Haus-, Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten.

Jetzt beiwww.grin.com

Table ofContents

1.Introduction

2. Background Information

2.1 Passing and Passing Narratives

2.2 The Mulatto Character

3. Nella Larsen and Passing

4. Irene and Clare

4.1 Differences: Two Sides of the Color Line

4.2 Parallels: Irene and Clare as Halved Selves

5. Clare – Revision of the Tragic Mulatta

6. Irene – A Moral Black Bourgeoise?

7. Conclusion

Works Cited

1.Introduction

The 1850 United States Census offered for the first time three options in the category of color: In addition to ‘white’ and ‘black,’ the option of ‘mulatto’ was introduced (Douglas and Yates 44). The idea for this inclusion was forwarded by the northern states of the U.S. as the South was not keen on acknowledging any mixing of the races: A mulatto or mulatta is a child born to one white and one black parent. During slavery, thousands of mulatto children were born to slave mothers and white free men, most often the masters of the women. Due to the one-drop rule(which classified anyone with as little as one drop of African blood as black), these children inherited the race and status from their mothers. In the 1920s, when the author Nella Larsen came to fame, the ‘color line’ between black and white Americans was drawn more sharply than ever before (cf. Kaplan xv).

 As mulattoes and mulattas can be of a very light complexion, they are predestined to ‘pass’ for white. This means that they can cross the constructed color line and live as white people. There are various, widely differing, guesses as to how many mulatto and black people passed in the late 1920s: The numbers range from 5,000 people in the U.S. each year to 75,000 people in only one city per day (cf. Kaplan xv). The concept of passing created two distinct feelings. The fact that people could simply assume another racial identity created fascination, on the one hand, and terror, on the other hand.

The two protagonists of Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929), Irene and Clare, are mulattas. Though they have grown up together, they have made different choices and lead different lives: Clare has passed for white for many years, whereas Irene has stayed within the black community.A detailed comparison shows that these two women do not only represent different options for mulatto people, but that they also share characteristics. As far as character types are concerned, Clare represents the tragic mulatta. Yet Larsen puts forth a revision of this literary tradition and character type. Irene exemplifies the moral black bourgeoisie, though it becomes evident that Larsen distances herself from Irene and the black bourgeoisie’s morals and ethics. Irene, in addition, also possesses tragic elements. Despite representing different character types, both Irene and Clare are the literary descendants of Iola Leroy, title character of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s novel Iola Leroy; or, Shadows Uplifted.

 For a more in-depth understanding of the topic, chapter two will provide a broader framework and offer the most important facts about passing, the passing novel, and the mulatto character in American fiction. Chapter three will present background information on the author Nella Larsen and her novella Passing. These chapters will serve as a basis for the discussion of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Sections 4.1 and 4.2 will respectively analyze Irene and Clare’s differences and similarities. Chapters five and six will then explore more closely the type, tradition, and literary predecessors of Clare and Irene. The last chapter will offer a short conclusion.

2. Background Information

2.1 Passing and Passing Narratives

The term ‘to pass’ has several meanings, including ‘to move,’ ‘to give approval to,’ or ‘to identify oneself or accept identification as a white person though having some [black][1] ancestry.’ As already mentioned in the introduction, the last meaning is the one around which this paper revolves: passing as “crossing the socially constructed ‘color line’ that separates white and black Americans” (Wald, “Passing” 560). It has to be noted, however, that passing does not solely apply to race but also to a number of other concepts, such as gender or class. In this sense, passing always is the crossing of a boundary. According to Elaine Ginsberg, racial passing evolved as a practice during slavery in the U.S., when children of black slave women and white men “inherited the abject status of the mother” and tried to break loose from their fates (5).

 By writing about passing, mainly black authors have explored the meaning of “race, identity, and color” and examined the social and psychological reality of African Americans (Wald, “Passing” 560). Moreover, the authors also had an ideological strategy: They “satirized the values of white supremacy, explored the protective effects of ‘white’ identity in an otherwise harsh and alienating world […], and voiced themes of pride and self-affirmation” (Wald, “Passing” 560).

 The novel of passing is a novel of protest in that it criticizes the strict binary categorization of racial identity in black or white and, as literary scholar Harryette Mullen contends, it exposes “the actual fluidity of ostensible rigid racial boundaries” (74). The novel of passing usually revolves around a half-white half-black character that decides to pass for white. Topics that are likely to be discussed in the novels are miscegenation, fear of exposure, guilt, the search for identity of the passer, and in the end, the ‘recrossing’ of the color line (cf. Little, “Novel of Passing” 548). In addressing this last point, passing novels can promote loyalty and solidarity to the black race. Passing also involves geographical movement as the passing character has to leave his or her environment behind (cf. Ginsberg 3).

 Elaine Ginsberg argues that passing has three major elements: