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Final Thesis.pdf (667.29 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Functions of the Great Migration and the New Negro in Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' and Richard Wright's 'Native Son'

McGuire, Lindley
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1526041670050429

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, English/Literature.
This project explores the emotional and geographic mobility of African Americansduring the Great Migration and Harlem Renaissance through a close reading of characters in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand and Richard Wright’s Native Son. Using Alain Locke’s argument for the New Negro, Louis Althusser’s understanding of ideologies and institutions, and Michel Foucault’s notion of panoptic surveillance, I argue that Helga Crane and Bigger Thomas exhibit how African American characters were able to exhibit mobility and agency, or the lack thereof, throughout their texts. This thesis argues against representations of Quicksand as just the “tragic mulatta” trope and Native Son as strictly a protest novel. Through this thesis, I analyze how both of these novels work within intricate intersections of race, gender, and class to showcase the limitations to Locke’s New Negro status and the opportunities available to women and men of a certain class during the Great Migration.
Jolie Sheffer, Ph. D. (Advisor)
Kimberly Coates, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
99 p.
African American Studies; Literature
African American Literature; Black; Richard Wright; Nella Larsen; Native Son; Quicksand; Great Migration; New Negro; Mobility

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McGuire, L. (2018). Functions of the Great Migration and the New Negro in Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' and Richard Wright's 'Native Son' [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1526041670050429

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McGuire, Lindley. Functions of the Great Migration and the New Negro in Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' and Richard Wright's 'Native Son'. 2018. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1526041670050429.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McGuire, Lindley. "Functions of the Great Migration and the New Negro in Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' and Richard Wright's 'Native Son'." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1526041670050429

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1526041670050429
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© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Functions of the Great Migration and the New Negro in Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' and Richard Wright's 'Native Son' by Lindley McGuire is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.