Bodies Unbound:Analysis Of Nella Larsen's Novels In The Dimension Of Body Narrative

Nella Larsen,an African-American writer,applies a lot of body narrative in her masterworks,Quicksand(1928)and Passing(1929),in which two subversive female mulattos are vividly presented.These two works establish her as an irreplaceable figure in Harlem Renaissance.This thesis,guided by Michel Foucault's body theories and based on the theories and elaborations on body by Hélène Cixous,Franz Fanon and others,examines how Helga and Clare,two half-blood heroines in the author's novels,cross racial boundaries and achieve identity breakout through the narrative of body in the face of gender oppression and racial discrimination.In the first part of the thesis,a comprehensive introduction of related theories on body narrative is carried out,covering the transition and evolution of body concept in western culture,and the connotation of body in the dimensions of gender and race,and highlighting the importance of body for Larsen in her writing.The second part focuses on how the half-blood heroine suffers from identity crisis while seeking identification,with Quicksand as the research text.First,an analysis is put through on how an anti-discipline body is conducted by Helga.Then,an insight is offered into how the invisible oppression and discipline are inflicted on mixed-race women,a marginal group,by various social authorities,how Helga loses herself and converts to Christianity,and how she accepts the black womanhood and loses the autonomy of sexuality.In the third part,the paper explores how the body of Clare,the heroine of Passing,achieves a transcendence of power and the way she engages in active construction of multiple identities,and thus underscores the rebirth of mixed-race women in multiple oppressions and their positive attitude towards identification.By analyzing Clare's childhood experience and her passing for a white,the paper investigates the impact of her body that can travel freely among the black and white societies on the population of which she is a member and reveals the connotation of her body when it throws itself into the hug of Harlem.By presenting Helga and Clare,the former trying to resist and the latter crossing multi-boundaries,Larsen casts light on the challenges met by mixed-blood in identity construction and their resolve in her two works,shares her views on the living dilemma faced by mixed race in American society,and questions the ethnic boundary between black and white people.