Passing in the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt

An exploration of a great American writers abiding concern with the color line Essays by Margaret D. Bauer, Keith Byerman, Martha J. Cutter, SallyAnn H. Ferguson, Donald B. Gibson, Scott Thomas Gibson, Aaron Ritzenberg, Werner Sollors, and Susan Prothro Wright Passing in the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt is a collection that reevaluates Chesnutts deft manipulation of the "passing" theme to expand understanding of the authors fiction and nonfiction. Nine contributors apply a variety of theories--including intertextual, signifying/discourse analysis, narratological, formal, psychoanalytical, new historical, reader response, and performative frameworks--to add richness to readings of Chesnutts works. Together the essays provide convincing evidence that "passing" is an intricate, essential part of Chesnutts writing, and that it appears in all the genres he wielded: journal entries, speeches, essays, and short and long fiction. The essays engage with each other to display the continuum in Chesnutts thinking as he began his writing career and established his sense of social activism, as evidenced in his early journal entries. Collectively, the essays follow Chesnutts works as he proceeded through the Jim Crow era, honing his ability to manipulate his mostly white audience through the astute, though apparently self-effacing, narrator, Uncle Julius, of his popular conjure tales. Chesnutts ability to subvert audience expectations is equally noticeable in the subtle irony of his short stories. Several of the collections essays address Chesnutts novels, including Paul Marchand, F.M.C., Mandy Oxendine, The House Behind the Cedars, and Evelyns Husband. The volume opens up new paths of inquiry into a major African American writers oeuvre.