The Historian's Passing: Reading Nella Larsen's Classic Novel as Social and Cultural History
Ebook
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Overview
This meticulously annotated edition of Nella Larsen’s novel Passing contextualizes the novel’s many historical and cultural references and introduces readers to a central theme: crossing the color line in the hopes of living a more privileged life.
Nella Larsen’s Passing is widely regarded as a classic novel of African American literature—a groundbreaking work in which the author keenly depicted an under-acknowledged element of early 20th-century American life: crossing the “color line” in the hopes of living a more privileged life. Now, readers can appreciate the full text of Larsen’s masterpiece, accompanied throughout by invaluable annotations that transform this classic into a fascinating historical documentation of American life and society during the Harlem Renaissance.
This meticulously annotated edition draws on the wealth of race scholarship that has been produced during the last generation to contextualize the novel’s many historical and cultural references. It includes introductory essays focusing on Nella Larsen’s life and its influence on her novel, and on events in American history and culture that appear in the novel. The book concludes with a comprehensive list of resources for further research.
This meticulously annotated edition of Nella Larsen’s novel Passing contextualizes the novel’s many historical and cultural references and introduces readers to a central theme: crossing the color line in the hopes of living a more privileged life.
Clarifies historical and cultural references in Nella Larsen’s Passing
Includes annotations for material on nearly every page of Passing
Thoroughly analyzes the context of the early 20th century United States
Discusses shifts in American definitions of race over the last hundred years
Series Foreword
Preface
A Note on the Text
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Chapter 1. The Many Lives of Nella Larsen
Chapter 2. The World of Harlem, and Harlem in the World
Passing by Nella Larsen, with Annotations by Lynn Domina
Bibliography
Index
- Title: The Historian's Passing: Reading Nella Larsen's Classic Novel as Social and Cultural History
- Author: Lynn Domina
- Series: The Historian's Annotated Classics
- Publisher: Praeger
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 160
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBN: 9798216096436
- Resource ID: LLS:9798216096436
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T15:57:11Z
Lynn Domina serves as head of the English Department at Northern Michigan University. She has earned degrees from Michigan State University, The University of Alabama, Stony Brook University, and the Earlham School of Religion.