African American Literature in the 20th century engaged many social and racial issues that mainstream white America marginalized during the pre-civil rights era through the use of rhetoric, setting, plot, narrative, and characterization. The use of passing fostered an outlet for many light-skinned men and women for inclusion. This trope also allowed for a closer investigation of the racial division in the United States during the 20th century. These issues included questions of the color line, or more specifically, how light-skinned men and women passed as white to obtain elevated economic and social status. Secondary issues in these earlier passing novels included gender and sexuality, raising questions as to whether these too existed as fixed identities in society. As such, the phenomenon of passing illustrates not just issues associated with the color line, but also social, economic, and gender structure within society. Human beings exist in a matrix, and as such, passing is not plausible if viewed solely as a process occurring within only one of these social constructs, but, rather, insists upon a viewpoint of an intersectional construct of social fluidity itself. This paper will re-theorize passing from a description solely concerning racial movements into a theory that explores passing as an intersectional understanding of gender, sexuality, race, and class. This paper will focus on contemporary cultural products (e.g., novels) of passing that challenge the traditional notion of passing and focus on an intersectional linkage between race, gender, sexuality, and class. / Ph. D. / The concept of passing (the notion of appearing as something, or someone, you are not) has been explored thoroughly in novels, memoirs, biographies, and films. Passing novels tend to look closely at the effects of passing on the passer and the motivation for passing. The motivation for passing differs but does include a desire to cross the color line. However, here, the traditional concept of passing was expanded and an intersectional passing model was constructed, which closely analyzed the stages a person must overcome in order to successfully pass. This model was then applied to a selection of six literary texts. These texts were divided into three separate chapters: gender, sexuality and class. The intersectional passing model illuminated several elements of the passing experience; however, certain stages did present unforeseen issues in the model. These stages were most applicable in Western constructions of gender, sexuality, and class. The stages of the model were intended to give a practical guide to mapping the experience of passing, not only in literary texts, but also for those who are interested in the concept of passing. The intersectional passing model can likewise be used as a teaching tool to illustrate the hurdles one must overcome to pass.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78449 |
| Date | 26 July 2017 |
| Creators | Volk, Dana Christine |
| Contributors | Political Science, Brunsma, David L., Chandler-Smith, Gena Elise, Seniors, Paula, Powell, Katrina M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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