Pursuit Of Identity Under Double Consciousness

As one of the most influential figures in the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen was the first African American woman who was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. Larson was deeply concerned about the living condition of the African-Americans and their struggles against racial discrimination. In her masterpiece, Passing, Larsen portraits the identity-searching path of a light-skinned mulatto through a fog of racial confusion, recreates the racial discrimination which light-skinned blacks in the United States were suffering from at that time and reveals the plight of female mulattos and their difficult identity-seeking journey.Based on the "double consciousness" theory, put forward by the contemporary black intellectual W. E.B. Du Bois, this thesis attempts to analyze the identity-seeking journey of the mulatto under the background of the Harlem Renaissance. It is also a reflection of Du Bois’ concept of "the third self" with the exploration of the failure of the protagonist in Nella Larsen’s Passing. In addition, this thesis intends to reveal Larsen’s resistance against racial oppression with the trope of passing in Larsen’s works. By analysis and exploration of the passing acts of the protagonist in Passing with the theory of "double consciousness", this thesis hopes to bring in a new vision on the study of Passing.The thesis is divided into the following five parts:Introduction includes a brief introduction of Nella Lasrsen’s life and her representative novel, Passing. The summary of studies at home and abroad about Passing is also offered in this part.Chapter One discusses the double consciousness and double identities of mulattos in the United States in the1920s as well as in the text of Larsen’s Passing.Chapter Two introduces the theme of "passing" and focuses on analyzing the passing behavior of the protagonist, Clare Kendry. It is pointed out in this chapter that the unbearable oppression of racial politics in America, the pressure and anguish caused by "double consciousness", and the hope to get an identity are the fundamental motives for Clare’s choice of passing.Chapter Three utilizes Du Bois’s concept of "the third self" to analyze the tragic ending of the character, Clare Kendry and concludes that Larsen’s arrangement of Clare’s failure in getting an identity by passing is her alternative to fight against racism.The final chapter gives a summary of the whole thesis. By the fictional portraits of mulatto female’s identity-seeking journey, Nella Larsen expresses her concern with the oppressed blacks and her attack against racial discrimination.