The Theme of Racial Passing in African American Literature. A Strategy to Overcome Obstacles and Gain Social Acceptance?

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 ...