Black Queer Flesh : Rejecting Subjectivity in the African American Novel

A groundbreaking examination of how twentieth-century African American writers use queer characters to challenge and ultimately reject subjectivity Black Queer Flesh reinterprets key African American novels from the Harlem Renaissance to Black Modernism to contemporary literature, showing how authors have imagined a new model of black queer selfhood. African American authors blame liberal humanism's model of subjectivity for double consciousness and find that liberal humanism's celebration of individual autonomy and agency is a way of disciplining Black queer lives. These authors thus reject subjectivity in search of a new mode of the self that Alvin J. Henry names "black queer flesh"—a model of selfhood that is collective, plural, fluctuating, and deeply connected to the black queer past. Henry begins with early twentieth-century authors such as Jessie Redmon Fauset and James Weldon Johnson. These authors adapted the Bildungsroman , the novel of self-formation, to show African Americans gaining freedom and agency by becoming a liberal, autonomous subjects. These authors, however, discovered that the promise of liberal autonomy held out by the Bildungsroman was yet another tool of antiblack racism. As a result, they tentatively experimented with repurposing the Bildungsroman to throw off subjectivity and its attendant double consciousness. In contrast, Nella Larsen, Henry shows, was the first author to fully reject subjectivity. In Quicksand and Passing , Larsen invented a new genre showing her queer characters—characters whose queerness already positioned them on the margins of subjectivity—escaping subjectivity altogether. Using Ralph Ellison's archival drafts, Henry then powerfully rereads Invisible Man , revealing that the protagonist as a queer, disabled character taught by the novel's many other queer, disabled characters to likewise seek a selfhood beyond subjectivity. Although Larsen and Ellison sketch glimpses of this selfhood beyond subjectivity, only Saidiya Hartman's Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments shows a protagonist fully inhabiting black queer flesh—a new mode of selfhood that is collective, plural, always evolving, and no longer alienated from the black past. Black Queer Flesh is an original and necessary contribution to black literary studies, offering new ways to understand and appreciate the canonical texts and far more. A groundbreaking examination of how twentieth-centuryAfrican American writers use queer characters to challenge andultimately reject subjectivity Black Queer Fleshreinterprets key African American novels from the HarlemRenaissance to Black Modernism to contemporary literature, showinghow authors have imagined a new model of black queer selfhood.African American authors blame liberal humanism's model ofsubjectivity for double consciousness and find that liberalhumanism's celebration of individual autonomy and agency is a wayof disciplining Black queer lives. These authors thus rejectsubjectivity in search of a new mode of the self that Alvin J.Henry names "black queer flesh"-a model of selfhood that iscollective, plural, fluctuating, and deeply connected to the blackqueer past. Henry begins with early twentieth-century authors suchas Jessie Redmon Fauset and James Weldon Johnson. These authorsadapted the Bildungsroman, the novel of self-formation, toshow African Americans gaining freedom and agency by becoming aliberal, autonomous subjects. These authors, however, discoveredthat the promise of liberal autonomy held out by theBildungsroman was yet another tool of antiblack racism. Asa result, they tentatively experimented with repurposing theBildungsroman to throw off subjectivity and its attendantdouble consciousness. In contrast, Nella Larsen, Henry shows, wasthe first author to fully reject subjectivity. In Quicksand andPassing, Larsen invented a new genre showing her queercharacters-characters whose queerness already positioned them onthe margins of subjectivity-escaping subjectivity altogether. UsingRalph Ellison's archival drafts, Henry then powerfully rereadsInvisible Man, revealing that the protagonist as a queer,disabled character taught by the novel's many other queer, disabledcharacters to likewise seek a selfhood beyond subjectivity.Although Larsen and Ellison sketch glimpses of this selfhood beyondsubjectivity, only Saidiya Hartman's Wayward Lives, BeautifulExperiments shows a protagonist fully inhabiting black queerflesh-a new mode of selfhood that is collective, plural, alwaysevolving, and no longer alienated from the black past. BlackQueer Flesh is an original and necessary contribution to blackliterary studies, offering new ways to understand and appreciatethe canonical texts and far more Cover Page 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Introduction: Rejecting Subjectivity 8 Chapter 1. Passing into Racial Anxiety 28 Chapter 2. Nella Larsen and the Emergence of Black Queer Flesh 66 Chapter 3. Queer Underworlds in Ralph Ellison 112 Chapter 4. Social Protest and the Aesthetics of Flesh in Richard Wright 166 Chapter 5. Toward a Black Queer Utopia 204 Acknowledgments 230 Notes 234 Index 248 About the Author 266