Nella Larsen - African-American Artist of the Harlem Renaissance

This seminar paper will sketch some of the elements of the cultural “Zeitgeist” that shaped and was reflected in Nella Larsen’s writings. But it will concentrate on the novels that she left behind: Quicksand and Passing. An important topic Larsen is dealing with is race-identity. Larsen assimilates these themes in her two novels, not by representing the lower-class problem, but more by focusing on the life and problems of middle-class females. It is more the psychological than the sociological side she portrays. This paper demonstrates that race identity and race dualism reflects Larsen’s own life story. First I will give an introduction on the Harlem Renaissance era. Then I will focus on Nella Larsen’s life. I will examine her two novels Quicksand and Passing to find out how race identity and race dualism is assimilated in her novels.