Passing (novel)
E734846
"Passing" is a 1929 novel by Nella Larsen that explores race, identity, and colorism through the intertwined lives of two light-skinned Black women in Harlem who navigate the dangerous social practice of racial passing.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Harlem Renaissance literature
ⓘ
novel ⓘ |
| adaptation | Passing (2021 film) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| author | Nella Larsen NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
class and social status
ⓘ
colorism ⓘ friendship and rivalry ⓘ marriage and domestic life ⓘ racial identity ⓘ racial passing ⓘ respectability politics ⓘ sexual ambiguity ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| criticalReception |
recognized as a classic of African-American literature
ⓘ
widely studied in literary and cultural studies ⓘ |
| endingStyle | ambiguous ⓘ |
| form | prose fiction ⓘ |
| genre |
African-American literature
ⓘ
modernist literature ⓘ psychological fiction ⓘ social novel ⓘ |
| hasMotif |
duality and doubleness
ⓘ
mirrors and reflection ⓘ social performance ⓘ |
| hasPageCountApprox | 120–150 pages ⓘ |
| hasSubject | intersections of race, gender, and class ⓘ |
| influenced | scholarship on race and passing in American literature ⓘ |
| literaryMovement | Harlem Renaissance NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| mainCharacter |
Clare Kendry
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Irene Redfield NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | third-person limited ⓘ |
| narratorFocalization | Irene Redfield NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | English ⓘ |
| partOf | Nella Larsen’s major works ⓘ |
| plotElement |
Clare Kendry passes as white in white society
ⓘ
Clare Kendry’s racist white husband is unaware of her ancestry ⓘ Irene Redfield lives as a Black woman in Harlem NERFINISHED ⓘ ambiguous death of Clare Kendry ⓘ reunion of childhood friends Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry ⓘ |
| precededBy | Quicksand (novel) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| protagonistEthnicity | African American NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| protagonistsSkinColor | light-skinned Black women ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1929 ⓘ |
| publisher | Alfred A. Knopf ⓘ |
| setIn |
Harlem
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
New York City ⓘ |
| settingContext | Jim Crow era United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 1920s ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.