The Historian’s Passing: Reading Nella Larsen’s Classic Novel As Social and Cultural History

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.

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.