James Weldon Johnson's novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man from 1912 is a relic and can be considered a work of political significance. Johnson engages with the racial dynamics and power structures of early 20th century America which, without saying, was very complex and tense. Through his work of fiction, the novel provides a nuanced and unblinking portrait of the challenges faced by those navigating the rigid "color line" that divided American society.
At the core of the novel is a nameless narrator who is a light-skinned African American man who is able to live his life passing as Caucasian. He has intimate relationships with women in the novel and they are, as described by scholar Siobhan B. Somerville, "transgressive, fleeting, …show more content…
Scholar M. Giulia Fabi observes that The Autobiography "aggressively invites comparison with major antecedent Afro-American texts" on the theme of passing (SOURCE TWO). However, at the same time, Fabi states that the narrator's "cowardice, self-commiseration, and superficial comments" set him apart from the more heroic protagonists found in earlier works on racial passing (SOURCE TWO. This contrast points at that narrator's "unreliability as a narrator" and the novel's "metanarrative reflection" on the constructed nature of racial identity (Source two). Fabbi continues to suggest that Johnson's rather ironic approach to the passing narrative tradition undermines the false and general interpretations of African American texts, while also providing a literary tool for those reading the novel. Robert B. Stepto's analysis sheds more light on the political dimensions present in the novel, particularly through his examination of the "authenticating preface." Stepto observes how the preface "puts the Ex-Coloured Man in his place by acknowledging his mobility in two worlds, but authenticating the clarity of his vision in only one" - the "black world" (Source one). This intentional framing aims to "ignore, undercut, or render aberrant the narrative's glimpses, views, and opinions of the white world," consequently reinforcing the
At the core of the novel is a nameless narrator who is a light-skinned African American man who is able to live his life passing as Caucasian. He has intimate relationships with women in the novel and they are, as described by scholar Siobhan B. Somerville, "transgressive, fleeting, …show more content…
Scholar M. Giulia Fabi observes that The Autobiography "aggressively invites comparison with major antecedent Afro-American texts" on the theme of passing (SOURCE TWO). However, at the same time, Fabi states that the narrator's "cowardice, self-commiseration, and superficial comments" set him apart from the more heroic protagonists found in earlier works on racial passing (SOURCE TWO. This contrast points at that narrator's "unreliability as a narrator" and the novel's "metanarrative reflection" on the constructed nature of racial identity (Source two). Fabbi continues to suggest that Johnson's rather ironic approach to the passing narrative tradition undermines the false and general interpretations of African American texts, while also providing a literary tool for those reading the novel. Robert B. Stepto's analysis sheds more light on the political dimensions present in the novel, particularly through his examination of the "authenticating preface." Stepto observes how the preface "puts the Ex-Coloured Man in his place by acknowledging his mobility in two worlds, but authenticating the clarity of his vision in only one" - the "black world" (Source one). This intentional framing aims to "ignore, undercut, or render aberrant the narrative's glimpses, views, and opinions of the white world," consequently reinforcing the