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 ...