Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

226890

Identity, the "passing" novel, and the phenomenology of "race"

Mawuena K. Logan

pp. 145-161

Abstract

The physical and psychological dismemberment of the African continent and its Diaspora, occasioned by the transatlantic slave trade and colonization, cannot be wished away or repaired by negating the self (past), and therefore remains one of the primary concerns of writers of the Black Atlantic. In spite of their efforts at agency—the deconstruction of racial essentialism—the "passing" characters in the novels discussed in this chapter not only fail to transcend "race" in order to attain freedom, they also deny their selves and historical relevance, thus paradoxically reinforcing that which they intend to challenge. The chapter contends that the phenomenology of "blackness' is historical and that the black body and its traumatic experiences have to be acknowledged and "re-membered" for wholeness to ensue.

Publication details

Published in:

Kalu Kenneth, Falola Toyin (2019) Exploitation and misrule in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 145-161

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96496-6_7

Full citation:

Logan Mawuena K. (2019) „Identity, the "passing" novel, and the phenomenology of "race"“, In: K. Kalu & T. Falola (eds.), Exploitation and misrule in colonial and postcolonial Africa, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 145–161.