Nella' Larsen (first called Nellie Walker) (1891- 1964) was a black American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance who wrote two novels, of which Passing is her best-known. Though her literary output was scant, what she wrote earned her recognition by her contemporaries and by present-day critics. Passing was first published in 1929 but has received renewed attention because of its close examination of racial & sexual ambiguities. It has achieved canonical status in many American universities. 

Passing

Nella Larsen's first novel tells the story of Helga Crane, a fictional character loosely based on Larsen's own early life. Crane is the lovely and refined daughter of a Danish mother and a West Indian black father who abandons Helga and her mother soon after Helga is born. Unable to feel comfortable with any of her white-skinned relatives, Helga lives in various places in America and visits Denmark in search of people among whom she feels at home. The work is a superb psychological study of a complicated and appealing woman, Helga Crane, who, like Larsen herself, is the product of a liaison between a black man and a white woman. In one sense, Quicksand might be called an odyssey; however, instead of overcoming a series of obstacles and finally arriving at her native land, Larsen's protagonist has a series of adventures, each of which ends in disappointment.

Quicksand

Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives A must for all students, teachers, and lovers of the epitome of the mile-high artfulness of the English language and how beautifully it can carry timeless tales within it. A rare audiobook treasury. Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, Quicksand and Passing, and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, she earned recognition by her contemporaries

Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", which is a key element of the novel. Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is significant and is a catalyst for the tragic events

Nella Larsen's "Quicksand" paints a poignant portrait of Helga Crane, a young woman grappling with her mixed racial heritage in the 1920s. Caught between societal expectations and her yearning for identity, Helga navigates different settings – the segregated South, bustling Harlem, and even Denmark – searching for a place to belong. Yet, societal constraints and her own internal struggles leave her feeling trapped, like sinking in quicksand. Through Helga's journey, Larsen explores themes of race, class, and the search for self in a world fraught with prejudice and limited options.

African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of enslaved people narratives, African-American literature was dominated by autobiographical spiritual narratives. The genre known as slave narratives in the 19th century were accounts by people who had generally escaped from slavery, about their journeys to freedom and ways they claimed their lives. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a great period of flowering in literature and the arts, influenced both by writers who came North in the Great Migration and those who were immigrants from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. The collection includes works by such prominent masters of American literature as Frederick Douglass, Nella Larsen, Charles W. Chesnutt , Paul Laurence Dunbar, Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, Booker T. Washington , W. E. B. Du Bois and many others. Novels and short stories Frederick Douglass THE HEROIC SLAVE Nella Larsen QUICKSAND PASSING THE WRONG MAN FREEDOM SANCTUARY Alice Dunbar-Nelson A CARNIVAL JANGLE VIOLETS THE WOMAN TEN MINUTES' MUSING TITEE Charles W. Chesnutt THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE PO' SANDY SIS' BECKY'S PICKANINNY THE DOLL THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH Paul Laurence Dunbar THE SCAPEGOAT Jean Toomer BECKY Poetry Phillis Wheatley TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM, EARL OF DARTMOUTH ON VIRTUE AN HYMN TO THE MORNING AN HYMN TO THE EVENING Frances E. W. Harper BURY ME IN A FREE LAND SONGS FOR THE PEOPLE MY MOTHER'S KISS A GRAIN OF SAND OUR HERO THE SPARROW'S FALL James Weldon Johnson SENCE YOU WENT AWAY Paul Laurence Dunbar THE LESSON SYMPATHY WE WEAR THE MASK Claude McKay AFTER THE WINTER IF WE MUST DIE THE TROPICS IN NEW YORK Countee Cullen FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR INCIDENT LANGSTON HUGHES THE WEARY BLUES JAZZONIA NEGRO DANCERS THE CAT AND THE SAXOPHONE (2 A. M.) YOUNG SINGER CABARET TO MIDNIGHT NAN AT LEROY'S TO A LITTLE LOVER-LASS, DEAD HARLEM NIGHT CLUB NUDE YOUNG DANCER YOUNG PROSTITUTE TO A BLACK DANCER IN "THE LITTLE SAVOY" SONG FOR A BANJO DANCE BLUES FANTASY LENOX AVENUE: MIDNIGHT Non-fiction Frederick Douglass NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS Harriet Jacobs INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL Booker T. Washington UP FROM SLAVERY William Still UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Henry Box Brown James Hambleton Christian Theophilus Collins Seth Concklin William and Ellen Craft Abram Galloway and Richard Eden Charles Gilbert Samuel Green Jamie Griffin Harry Grimes James Hamlet and Others John Henry Hill Ann Maria Jackson and Her Seven Children Jane Johnson Matilda Mahoney Mary Frances Melvin Aunt Hannah Moore Alfred S. Thornton Essays W. E. B. Du Bois THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK Charles W. Chesnutt THE DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE NEGRO Paul Laurence Dunbar REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN NEGROES

70+  Anthology. African American literature. Novels and short stories. Poetry. Non-fiction. Essays

Will hypocrisy and prejudice compel a principled mulatto teacher to desert a steady job and a socially prominent fiance? Brave, bold, and brilliant, Larsen's 1928 autobiographical portrait of a bi-racial woman's quest for self-identity and acceptance offers a cautionary tale of an individual lost between two cultures in this shattering novel of racial and cultural identity crisis by the first black author to explore the tragic dilemma of the upper-class black woman.

Vi befinder os i sydstaterne i USA i 1920’erne. Den unge Helga Crane underviser på et sort universitet i Syden, hvor hun leder efter sin egen identitet som sort, som kvinde og som lærer. Hun forlader sydstaterne i en søgen efter sin egen identitet og flytter nordpå til Chicago, hvor hun får økonomisk støtte af en hvid onkel, som dog ikke ønsker nogen nærmere forbindelse med sin "sorte" niece. Vi følger Helgas søgen efter sin egen identitet i et virvar af racisme, mandschauvinisme og fordomme i en raceopdelt verden, hvor hun hverken hører til hos de sorte eller de hvide. Hendes søgen bringer hende til det pulserende New York med svingende jazzklubber og til sine slægtninge i Danmark, hvor hun mænger sig med det fineste selskab i København. Men at lede efter sin egen identitet kan være som at forsøge at vandre i kviksand, og Helgas kamp for at finde sin egen plads i verden er lang og hård. "Kviksand" udkom i 1928 og på dansk i 2015. Nella Larsen (1891-1964) født Nellie Walker. Voksede op i Chicago, Illinois, som stedbarn af blandet race i en ellers "ren", hvid, dansk-amerikansk familie. Dette grundlagde en livslang ambivalens og følelse af skyld og skam i hende – som halvt sort barn bragte hun skam over sin ellers hvide familie, og dette blev et fast litterært emne i hendes semi-selvbiografiske romaner og noveller. Nella Larsen blev i høj grad litterært anerkendt af sine samtidige, men døde glemt og i ubemærkethed i Brooklyn i New York i 1964. Siden 1990’erne har hendes værker dog opnået fornyet interesse, og i dag anses de som komplekse, intellektuelle studier i race-, køns- og identitetshistorie.

Kviksand

Irene lever et trygt overklasseliv i 1920’ernes Harlem, men da hun en dag render ind i sin barndomsveninde Clare under et besøg i Chicago, bliver der vendt op og ned på hendes tilværelse. Smukke, charmerende Clare er – ligesom Irene selv – af afroamerikansk afstamning. Begge er de så lyse i huden, at de kan gå for at være hvide, men mens Irene kun gør det, når situationen byder sig, har Clare vendt sit ophav ryggen og giftet sig med en hvid mand. Dobbeltliv er en indlevende historie om to kvinder, der har valgt hver sin vej i tilværelsen, og som i gensynet med hinanden aner en flig af en anden verden.

Dobbeltliv

En sommardag 1927 möts två kvinnor på en hotellterrass i Chicago. Irene Redfield märker att någon stirrar på henne och tror först att hon blivit avslöjad. Så känner hon igen kvinnan vid bordet intill som Clare Kendry, barndomsvännen från en helt annan del av staden. Båda kvinnorna passerar som vita på en plats där de egentligen inte har tillträde. Mötet mellan dem leder in på en väg som obönhörligen slutar i tragedi.

Passera

Clare e Irene se reencontraram, por acaso, no terraço de um elegante hotel. Na Chicago dos anos 1920, elas nem poderiam, pela lei, estar ali: são negras que, por conta da pele clara, estavam passando-se por brancas. Irene, é verdade, manteve-se na raça: mora no ­Harlem e é membro ativo da Sociedade Negra. Já Clare, para deixar a pobreza, adotou uma identidade de branca e casou-se com um homem rico — e profundamente racista. Irene é negra por compromisso moral; Clare quer voltar a ser negra, por prazer. Em uma sociedade cega à ambiguidade racial, Irene e Clare, como as duas metades do yin yang, estão em constante busca por um espaço o qual nunca poderão ocupar plenamente. Clare, a negra que se passa por branca, fascina e angustia Irene, a negra que pensa como branca. Nos polos opostos, seus maridos: o branco racista que quer levar Clare para a Europa; o médico negro que sonha em mudar a família para o Brasil. A essa perigosa tensão social soma-se uma carga sexual, precipitando o desfecho inexorável para as pessoas de cor que não encontram seu lugar em um mundo em preto e branco.

Passando-se

Neste marco do colorismo, com fortes tintas autobiográficas, Helga Crane é filha de pai negro e mãe branca e, portanto, não tem lugar nos Estados Unidos racista dos anos 1920. Conhecemos Helga em uma universidade para "ascenção" das pessoas negras, no Sul. Desencantada com a condes- cendência dos reitores e a submissão ao discurso moralista branco, Helga foge para Nova York, onde esperava uma sociedade negra mais assertiva e independente, porém o que encontra é uma burguesia eternamente discutindo "a questão racial" em coquetéis e festas. Abandona o Harlem pela Dinamarca, terra de sua mãe, e lá é vista (e cobiçada) como "exótica". Uma repentina "consciência de cor" a leva de volta a Nova York. Sem ter encontrado seu lugar nem no meio negro, nem no meio branco, Helga desiste das inquietações intelectuais e se torna esposa de um pastor em uma comunidade do Sul profundo… para logo deparar-se com o triste papel das mulheres no meio religioso.

Areia movediça

Drijfzand is het tragische, deels autobiografische verhaal van een rusteloze Deens-Afro-Amerikaanse onderwijzeres die in het gesegregeerde Amerika van de jaren ’20 op zoek is naar haar plaats in de wereld. Schutkleur gaat over twee vriendinnen van gemengd bloed die ieder op hun eigen wijze gebruikmaken van het feit dat ze voor blank kunnen doorgaan. Hoofdpersoon Irene Redfield gebruikt dit om, heel onschuldig, thee te drinken in deftige hotels waar ze als ‘negro’ niet gewenst zou zijn. Haar jeugdvriendin Clare Kendry speelt een gevaarlijker spel: zij trouwt met een blanke racist. Clares grote geheim en Irenes dubbele moraal zijn de ingrediënten van een psychologische novelle die van begin tot eind zindert van spanning en onheil.

Drijfzand Schutkleur

Passingis a profound exploration of racial identity, societal expectations, and the intricate dynamics of friendship and betrayal. Nella Larsen delves into the complexities of race and colorism in 1920s America, portraying a society where appearances are carefully curated, and personal identity is often sacrificed for social acceptance. Through the intertwined lives of Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, the novel examines how race can be both a barrier and a means of survival, as well as how it influences personal choices and relationships. Since its publication, Passing has been acclaimed for its nuanced portrayal of identity and the tensions surrounding race and class. The novel's exploration of these themes has inspired academic discussions and adaptations in various forms, including films and theatrical productions. Its characters, particularly Clare and Irene, have become central to debates on identity, autonomy, and the pressures of societal norms. The novel remains relevant today due to its incisive critique of social constructs and its portrayal of the personal and collective struggles tied to race. By addressing issues of belonging, self-perception, and the cost of conformity, Passing continues to resonate as a powerful commentary on the human experience in the face of societal expectations.

Women Writers of the World

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Amaka Okafor, an acclaimed stage actress and composer who performs all over the country at venues such as The National Theatre, The Old Vic and National Theatre Scotland. A classic, brilliant and layered novel that has been at the heart of racial identity discourse in America for almost a century. Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage and has severed all ties to her past. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family's happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others - and the secret fears they have buried within themselves. © Nella Larsen 1929 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Nella Larsen's Letters, 1917-1935 is the first comprehensive collection of Nella Larsen's letters. The continued interest on the part of readers, scholars, and publishers in Larsen's life and works amounts to a veritable Larsen revival. While biographers and literary critics have referred to her correspondence, Larsen's letters have until now been accessible mostly through archival research. Nella Larsen's Letters, 1917-1935 will make Larsen's correspondence more easily and broadly available to scholars, students, and general readers. The volume collects letters to Dorothy Peterson, Carl Van Vechten, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Edward Wasserman, Gertrude Stein, Charles S. Johnson, Robert Russa Moton, and George E. Haynes, and many letters are here published in their entirety for the first time. Larsen's references to contemporary events, national organizations, writers, artists, and other prominent figures create a very lively sense of the intellectual and social context of the Harlem Renaissance and of Larsen's active involvement in it. Larsen's letters provide glimpses of the society of which she was a part through anecdotes by turns charming, amusing, irreverent, at times self-effacing, and witty. Larsen's letters point to her wide-ranging readings. They shed light into her relationship with the art of fiction, into her novels Quicksand and Passing, as well as into her personality, her marriage, and her relationships with friends and other artists. Nella Larsen's Letters, 1917-1935 is an indispensable companion to her fiction that will enable readers ranging from the general public to scholars and educators to gain a deeper understanding of both the woman and the timeless beauty of her art.

Nella Larsen's Letters, 1917-1935

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