"A Shade Too Unreserved": Destabilizing Sexuality and Gender Constructs of the New Negro Identity in Harlem Renaissance Literature

<p>Much of the Harlem Renaissance artistic movement was directly intertwined with the New Negro social movement of the time. Race leaders spoke to and influenced artistic trends, while artists often engaged with the New Negro race issues and social debates through their works. Wallace Thurman, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston used their own fictional works to explore the New Negro construct being promoted. In examining the constructed nature of this New Negro identity, these artists strove to destabilize the social "norms" upon which the identity was based. As they thematically and stylistically explored such social constructs through their fiction, Thurman, Larsen, and Hurston simultaneously gave voice to those perspectives unrepresented within such restrictive constructs. This project examines these authors' subversion of such social constructs through the frameworks of intersectionality and contextual dialogue.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Chase, Renee E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Maik Nwosu, Ph.D.
• Clark Davis
• Eleanor McNees
• Frédérique Chevillot

• Harlem renaissance
• Intersectionality
• Nella Larsen
• New negro
• Wallace Thurman
• Zora Neale Hurston
• African American Studies
• American Literature

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/121

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1120