FLEEING, LOSING, AND LONGING: THE PASSING PARADOX IN LARSEN’S PASSING AND BENNETT’S THE VANISHING HALF

Kodjo François Adaha, Sènakpon A. Fortuné Azon

Abstract


The complex phenomenon of racial passing as portrayed in Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929) and Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half (2020) is the main focus of this paper. It explores how passing characters in literature navigate the fluid boundaries of racial identity, often oscillating between self-preservation and self-erasure. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the analytical framework, this study demonstrates that passing works both as a strategy of access to privilege and a site of profound psychological conflict. Through a close examination of the psychological, social, and emotional dimensions of racial passing, the essay identifies skin complexion as both a gateway to privilege and a source of internal conflict. By situating the narratives within historical and sociopolitical contexts, the analysis highlights how racial passing is not merely an act of (self-)deception but a response to a deeply entrenched social complex of exclusion and inequality. Ultimately, the paper exposes the personal costs and social implications of the negotiation of identity along the color continuum. It also discusses Larsen and Bennett’s esthetics of the passing paradox: it enables temporary mobility while reinforcing the systemic hierarchies that make such passing necessary and, more importantly, shows that what passers flee from is what they eventually long for.

 

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Nella Larsen, Brit Bennett, passing, racism, USA

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejls.v6i2.650

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