Resounding The Music Of Freedom

This thesis attempts to argue that there exist some parallel patterns between jazzand the structures of Quicksand and Passing, a discovery that points toward amodernist theme in the two novellas.As a major writer of the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen is best known for hertwo color-line novellas, Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929). Though her literaryoutput is rather scant, these two works exploring the confused (and often confined)racial identification for mulattoes in the1920s America were at that time criticallyacclaimed and have continued to attract scholarly attention well into the present.The backbone theory of this thesis is modernism. Set in the chaotic1920s,Larsen’s works underscore the modernist alienation permeating the era as her mulattoheroines, alienated from both races, are constantly struggling to reconcile theirpsychic confusion in the modern city. In the face of uncertainty and indeterminacy,however, modernism appeals to people to challenge the established hierarchies andboundaries. With this modernist attitude to tackle the issue of identification in hernovels, Larsen stylistically breaks down the barriers between literature and music byintegrating black music into her writing and thematically employs jazz, a free-spiritedmusical hybrid typical of American modernism, to propose a way out of identityconfusion.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is devoted to an introduction of Nella Larsen and her two novellas, literature review, theoretical basis, researchquestions and methodology. Chapter Two analyzes how Larsen employs a repetitivepattern and rhythmic language in Quicksand to chronicle the self-quest journey ofHelga Crane, making the novella a literary manifestation of black music. ChapterThree explores the way Larsen uses the two techniques typical of African Americanmusic, namely riffing and call-and-response, to highlight the interplay between thetwo heroines. Shifting to the thematic significance, Chapter Four attempts to explorehow jazz, a modernist hybrid musical form, helps to shed some light on the racialidentification of the mulatto heroines. The last chapter sums up the previous chapters,concluding that the form and spirit of jazz are integrated in Quicksand and Passing toexpress Larsen’s hope for racial equality in the modern world.