Born in Chicago on April 13, 1891, Nella Larsen was an American writer
who came to rise during the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-
American culture was embraced by the black people and writers of the time.
Although she was legally born black, Larsen came from mixed descent (Danish
and West Indian) and wanted to embrace her own unique ethnic background. Larsen’s father died when she was two years old. Shortly after his death, Larsen’s mother married a man by the name of Peter Larsen “a man of her own race and nationality” (T Davis 182). Together the two had a daughter, Larsen’s half sister. Larsen got her education from a private school, which she and her sister both attended.
According to reports by Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, her stepfather Peter viewed Larsen as an embarrassment. It was this aspect of Larsen that allowed her to flourish as a writer during a time of
extreme tension between blacks and whites in America. Some of Larsen’s favorite authors who inspired her to write were Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Jessie Fauset, and Jean Toomer. In Chicago Larsen's childhood was often confusing and exciting. Being of a mixed-raced in a society that viewed the world in Black and White left Larsen in midst of a racial conflict not feeling fully accepted by either side. Larsen's early years were tainted by disgrace for mulatto children from all corners of society. This racial prejudice followed her throughout much of her experience in Chicago as a child. From 1912-1921 Larsen studied and worked as a nurse in New York
(although her own health was "delicate" at best) following a short year at Fisk
University where she studied science. Her first published work came in the
"Brownie's Book", a popular children's magazine. Soon after she wrote for
Young's Magazine and other publications using the pseudonym Allen Semi. In
between her various nursing and writing jobs Larsen worked as a librarian for the Harlem branch of the NYC public library. She married Samuel Imes in May of 1919, a prominent physicist and the second African American to receive a PhD in physics. It was through Imes' social connections that Larsen was able to acquaint herself with the best of the Harlem
Renaissance authors, Langston Hughes, Jessie Fauset, and James Weldon Johnson.
Larsen was very conscious of the second-class status given to those of mixed ethnicity and women in general. Subsequently her most famous novels Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929) dealt with fictional parallels of many parts of Larsen’s' own life; stories of women whose racial and sexual suppression by whites and men left them confused and wanting more out of life. Her topics of women's sexual suppression and racial tension were far ahead of their time making Larsen a "Modern Woman." On March 30th, 1964 Larson was found dead in her apartment in New York City from heart failure and poor health condition. Nella Larsen like another author studied at this time; Toni Morrison, wrote stories of the Harlem Renaissance. Some of her major works again were "The Wrong Man" (1926), "Freedom" (1926), Quicksand (1928), Passing (1929) and "Sanctuary" (1930). Her stories portrayed characters from all walks of life and better yet, provided lessons to the readers. They displayed a great deal of racism and separation. Unlike Toni Morrison, it is very clear and easy to read Larsen’s stories. Toni Morrison on one hand is a very in depth writer. She causes her reader to think outside the box. Morrison uses tons of literary techniques when getting her point across in her stories. In Nella Larsen’s writing she is direct and to the point. In a sense it is somewhat like you get what you see kind of thing. In her novel Passing, racism is prominent more than ever. One of her main characters is a “mulatto” woman, meaning she is a bi racial woman. She is very light in skin tone that she actually passes off as a white woman. That novel in itself focused on race, but more so on skin tone.
I find it interesting that Larsen relates some of her own personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and ideas to characters and plots in her novel. Nella Larsen's work contains a view of how the black world was viewed but in a women’s perspective. Nella Larsen tried to identify herself with both black and white races. Although she was legally black, I believe she was not completely satisfied being just a member of the black elite. Thus causing her to want more. In fact Larsen seemed trapped by her narrowness, and because of her black experiences, she yearned to live in a whole world. Nella expressed these feelings and awareness’s through her writings. Nella Larsen was a great writer and also a very private person.
In 1930 she was the first African American woman to receive a Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing. It was that same year that Larsen was also accused of plagiarism. She became a target in the media for her short story “Sanctuary”. Coincidentally it bore a very close resemblance to another story published in Forum Magazine, which also published her story. The previous story was written in 1922. Despite her trials and tribulations from this, she proved her innocence. After the issue with that was over, she found herself in another problem. Larsen began to experience marital problems soon after her case of plagiarism. The Afro-American Press reported rumors of her husband having an affair with a white woman, and not only that but also that Larsen tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window. Due to ill circumstances, her literary career was too brief for her to express all of her talent. She had the potential to create even greater work. Here is a video of a young woman discussing Nella Larsen and her works. In this video she is discussing Nella Larsen’s different concepts in some of the stories written. In her speech she compares Nella Larsen to some people famously known today. One for example is Mariah Carey.
Bibliography:
Passing by: Nella Larsen
beinecke.library.yale.edu/.../ Summary.htm
www.bookrags.com/ Nella_Larsen
