{"id":2508,"date":"2009-10-26T20:23:21","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T20:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2017-03-10T16:53:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T16:53:12","slug":"passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=2508","title":{"rendered":"Passing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Passing<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

W. W. Norton & Company<\/a>
\nSeptember 2007
\n584 pages
\n5.2 \u00d7 8.4 in
\nPaperback ISBN: 978-0-393-97916-9<\/p>\n

Nella Larsen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Edited by<\/p>\n

Carla Kaplan<\/strong><\/a>, Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature
\nNortheastern University<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nella Larsen<\/a> is a central figure in African American, Modernist, and women\u2019s literature.<\/p>\n

Larsen’s status as a Harlem Renaissance<\/a> woman writer was rivaled by only Zora Neale Hurston<\/a>\u2019s. This Norton Critical Edition<\/em> of her electrifying 1929 novel<\/strong> includes Carla Kaplan\u2019s detailed and thought-provoking introduction, thorough explanatory annotations, and a Note on the Text. An unusually rich \u201cBackground and Contexts\u201d section connects the novel to the historical events of the day, most notably the sensational Rhinelander\/Jones case<\/a> of 1925. Fourteen contemporary reviews are reprinted, including those by Alice Dunbar-Nelson<\/a>, Mary Griffin, and W. E. B. Du Bois<\/a>. Published accounts from 1911 to 1935\u2014by Langston Hughes<\/a>, Juanita Ellsworth<\/a>, and Caleb Johnson, among others\u2014provide a nuanced view of the contemporary cultural dimensions of race and passing<\/a>, both in America and abroad. Also included are Larsen\u2019s statements on the novel and on passing, as well as a generous selection of her letters and her central writings on \u201cThe Tragic Mulatto(a)\u201d in American literature. Additional perspective is provided by related Harlem Renaissance works. \u201cCriticism\u201d provides fifteen diverse critical interpretations, including those by Mary Helen Washington<\/a>, Cheryl A. Wall<\/a>, Deborah E. McDowell<\/a>, David L. Blackmore<\/a>, Kate Baldwin, and Catherine Rottenberg. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/p>\n

Acknowledgments<\/strong>
\nIntroduction<\/strong>
\nA Note on the Text<\/strong>
\nThe Text of\u00a0Passing<\/em><\/strong>
\nBackgrounds and Contexts<\/strong>
\nREVIEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Mary Rennels \u2013 \u201cPassing\u201d Is Novel of Longings (April 27, 1929)<\/li>\n
  2. Beyond the Color Line (April 28, 1929)<\/li>\n
  3. Margaret Cheney Dawson \u2013 The Color Line (April 28, 1929)<\/li>\n
  4. The Dilemma of Mixed Race: Another Study of Color-line in New York (May 1, 1929)<\/li>\n
  5. Alice Dunbar-Nelson \u2013 As In a Looking Glass (May 3, 1929)<\/li>\n
  6. W. B. Seabrook \u2013 Touch of the Tar-brush (May 18, 1929)<\/li>\n
  7. Esther Hyman \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0by Nella Larsen (June 1929)<\/li>\n
  8. Aubrey Bowser \u2013 The Cat Came Back (June 5, 1929)<\/li>\n
  9. Mary Griffin \u2013 Novel of Race Consciousness (June 23, 1929)<\/li>\n
  10. W. E. B. Du Bois \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0(July 1929)<\/li>\n
  11. Mary Fleming Larabee \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0(August 1929)<\/li>\n
  12. Do They Always Return? (September 28, 1929)<\/li>\n
  13. \u201cM. L. H.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0(December 1929)<\/li>\n
  14. Passing<\/em>\u00a0(December 12, 1929)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    CONTEMPORARY COVERAGE OF\u00a0PASSING<\/em>\u00a0AND RACE<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. When Is a Caucasian Not a Caucasian? (March 2, 1911)<\/li>\n
    2. [Publisher\u2019s Preface to the 1912 Edition of Johnson\u2019s\u00a0Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man<\/em>]<\/li>\n
    3. Writer Says Brazil Has No Color Line (October 1925)<\/li>\n
    4. Blood Will Tell (July 24, 1926)<\/li>\n
    5. Don Pierson \u2013 Does It Pay to \u201cPass?\u201d (August 20, 1927)<\/li>\n
    6. Juanita Ellsworth \u2013 White Negroes (May-June 1928)<\/li>\n
    7. Lewis Fremont Baldwin \u2013 From\u00a0From Negro to Caucasian, Or How the Ethiopian Is Changing His Skin<\/em>\u00a0(1929)<\/li>\n
    8. Emilie Hahn \u2013 Crossing the Color Line (July 28, 1929)<\/li>\n
    9. Caleb Johnson \u2013 Crossing the Color Line (August 26, 1931)<\/li>\n
    10. Langston Hughes \u2013 Passing for White, Passing for Colored, Passing for Negroes Plus (1931)<\/li>\n
    11. 75,000 Pass in Philadelphia Every Day (December 19, 1931)<\/li>\n
    12. Careful Lyncher! He May Be Your Brother (January 21, 1932)<\/li>\n
    13. Blonde Girl Was \u2018Passing<\/em>\u2018 (January 23, 1932)<\/li>\n
    14. Swedish Negro Baby! (April 28, 1932)<\/li>\n
    15. Virginia Is Still Hounding \u2018White\u2019 Negroes Who \u2018Pass\u2019 (June 29, 1935)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      THE RHINELANDER\/JONES CASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Mark J. Madigan \u2013 Miscegenation and \u201cthe Dicta of Race and Class\u201d: The Rhinelander Case and Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0(1990)<\/li>\n
      2. Selected newspaper articles on the case (list pending)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND BIOGRAPHY<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. About Nella Larsen<\/li>\n
        2. Miss Nella Larsen Bids for Literary Laurels (May 12, 1928)<\/li>\n
        3. Thelma E. Berlack \u2013 New Author Unearthed Right Here in Harlem (May 23, 1928)<\/li>\n
        4. Mary Rennels \u2013 Behind the Backs of Books and Authors (April 13, 1929)<\/li>\n
        5. [Letter about Nella Larsen] Jean Blackwell Hutson to Louise Fox (August 1, 1969)<\/li>\n
        6. Thadious M. Davis \u2013 Nella Larsen\u2019s Harlem Aesthetic (1989)<\/li>\n
        7. George Hutchinson \u2013 Nella Larsen and the Veil of Race (1997)<\/li>\n
        8. Larson on birth,\u00a0Passing<\/em>, and death<\/li>\n
        9. Davis on birth,\u00a0Passing<\/em>, and death<\/li>\n
        10. Hutchinson on birth,\u00a0Passing<\/em>, and death<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Author\u2019s Statements<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Nella Larsen Imes, \u201cAuthor Statement,\u201d 1926<\/li>\n
          2. Nella Larsen Imes, Guggenheim Application<\/li>\n
          3. [In Defense of\u00a0Sanctuary<\/em>]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Letters<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. To Carl Van Vechten [1925]<\/li>\n
            2. To Charles S. Johnson [August 1926]<\/li>\n
            3. To Eddie Wasserman<\/li>\n
            4. To Eddie Wasserman<\/li>\n
            5. To Dorothy Peterson<\/li>\n
            6. To Dorothy Peterson<\/li>\n
            7. To Dorothy Peterson<\/li>\n
            8. To Dorothy Peterson<\/li>\n
            9. To Langston Hughes<\/li>\n
            10. To Gertrude Stein<\/li>\n
            11. To Carl Van Vechten<\/li>\n
            12. To Carl Van Vechten<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              THE TRAGIC MULATTO(A)<\/strong><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Lydia Maria Child \u2013 The Quadroons (1842)<\/li>\n
              2. Williams Wells Brown\u2013 From\u00a0Clotel<\/em>\u00a0(1853)<\/li>\n
              3. Frances Harper \u2013 From\u00a0Iola Leroy<\/em>\u00a0(1892)<\/li>\n
              4. William Dean Howells \u2013 From\u00a0An Imperative Duty<\/em>\u00a0(1892 or 83?)<\/li>\n
              5. Kate Chopin \u2013 The Father of D\u00e9sir\u00e9e\u2019s Baby (1893)<\/li>\n
              6. Mark Twain \u2013 From\u00a0Pudd\u2019nhead Wilson<\/em>\u00a0(1894)<\/li>\n
              7. Charles Chesnutt \u2013 From\u00a0The House behind the Cedars<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(1900)<\/li>\n
              8. Georgia Douglass Johnson \u2013 The Octoroon (1922)<\/li>\n
              9. Countee Cullen \u2013 Near White (1925)<\/li>\n
              10. Langston Hughes \u2013 Mulatto<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n
              11. Fannie Hurst \u2013 From\u00a0Imitation of Life<\/em>\u00a0(1933)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                SELECTED WRITINGS ABOUT\u00a0PASSING<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Frank Webb \u2013 From\u00a0The Gairies and Their Friends<\/em>\u00a0(1852)<\/li>\n
                2. Frances Harper \u2013 From\u00a0Iola Leroy<\/em>\u00a0(1892)<\/li>\n
                3. Charles Chesnutt \u2013 From\u00a0House behind the Cedars<\/em>\u00a0(1900)<\/li>\n
                4. James Weldon Johnson \u2013 From\u00a0Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man<\/em>\u00a0(1912)<\/li>\n
                5. Jessie Redmon Fauset \u2013 The Sleeper Wakes (1920)<\/li>\n
                6. Countee Cullen \u2013 Two Who Crossed a Line (1925)<\/li>\n
                7. Walter White \u2013 From\u00a0Flight<\/em>\u00a0(1926)<\/li>\n
                8. Jessie Redmon Fauset \u2013 From\u00a0Plum Bun<\/em>\u00a0(1928)<\/li>\n
                9. Rudolph Fisher \u2013 From\u00a0The Walls of Jericho<\/em>\u00a0(1928)<\/li>\n
                10. George S. Schuyler \u2013 From\u00a0Black No More<\/em>\u00a0(1931)<\/li>\n
                11. Langston Hughes \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0(1934)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  SELECTED WRITINGS FROM THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Joseph Seamon Cotter, Jr. \u2013 The Mulatto to His Critics (1918)<\/li>\n
                  2. Countee Cullen \u2013 Heritage (1925)<\/li>\n
                  3. W. E. B. Du Bois \u2013 Criteria of Negro Art (1926)<\/li>\n
                  4. Nella Larsen [Pseud. Allen Semi] \u2013 Freedom (1926)<\/li>\n
                  5. George S. Schuyler \u2013 The Negro-Art Hokum (1926)<\/li>\n
                  6. Carl Van Vechten \u2013 From\u00a0Nigger Heaven<\/em>\u00a0(1926)<\/li>\n
                  7. From Negro Womanhood\u2019s Greatest Needs: A Symposium (1927)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Nathan Irvin Huggins \u2013 [Schizophrenia from Racial Dualism]<\/li>\n
                    2. Mary Mabel Youman \u2013 Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em>: A Study in Irony<\/li>\n
                    3. Claudia Tate \u2013 Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em>: A Problem of Interpretation<\/li>\n
                    4. Mary Helen Washington \u2013 Nella Larsen: Mystery Woman of the Harlem Renaissance<\/li>\n
                    5. Cheryl A. Wall \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0for What? Aspects of Identity in Nella Larsen\u2019s Novels<\/li>\n
                    6. Deborah E. McDowell \u2013 [Black Female Sexuality in\u00a0Passing<\/em>]<\/li>\n
                    7. David L. Blackmore \u2013 \u201cThat Unreasonable Restless Feeling\u201d: The Homosexual Subtexts of Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em><\/li>\n
                    8. Jennifer DeVere Brody \u2013 Clare Kendry\u2019s \u201cTrue\u201d Colors: Race and Class Conflict in Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em><\/li>\n
                    9. Helena Michie \u2013 [Differences among Black Women]<\/li>\n
                    10. Judith Butler \u2013 Passing, Queering: Nella Larsen\u2019s Psychoanalytic Challenge<\/li>\n
                    11. Ann duCille \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0Fancies<\/li>\n
                    12. Kate Baldwin \u2013 The Recurring Conditions of Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em><\/li>\n
                    13. Gayle Wald \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0and Domestic Tragedy<\/li>\n
                    14. Catherine Rottenberg \u2013\u00a0Passing<\/em>: Race, Identification, and Desire<\/li>\n
                    15. Miriam Thaggert \u2013 Racial Etiquette: Nella Larsen\u2019s\u00a0Passing<\/em>\u00a0and the Rhinelander Case<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Nella Larsen: A Chronology<\/strong>
                      \nSelected Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      Passing W. W. Norton & Company September 2007 584 pages 5.2 \u00d7 8.4 in Paperback ISBN: 978-0-393-97916-9 Nella Larsen Edited by Carla Kaplan, Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature Northeastern University Nella Larsen is a central figure in African American, Modernist, and women\u2019s literature. Larsen’s status as a Harlem Renaissance woman writer was rivaled by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1196,8,15,6462,25],"tags":[758,761,756,767,765,764,760,766,1433,488,1154,1431,759,763,87,1445,762,79,122,1300,150],"class_list":["post-2508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-literary-criticism","category-media-archive","category-novels","category-passing-2","category-women","tag-alice-dunbar-nelson","tag-caleb-johnson","tag-carla-kaplan","tag-catherine-rottenberg","tag-david-l-blackmore","tag-deborah-e-mcdowell","tag-juanita-ellsworth","tag-kate-baldwin","tag-kip-rhinelander","tag-langston-hughes","tag-leonard-kip-rhinelander","tag-leonard-rhinelander","tag-mary-griffin","tag-mary-helen-washington","tag-nella-larsen","tag-rhinelander-v-rhinelander","tag-rhinelanderjones-case","tag-tragic-mulatto","tag-w-e-b-du-bois","tag-w-w-norton-company","tag-zora-neale-hurston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52294,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions\/52294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}