A Critical Analysis of Negro Character in the American Novel of the South 1935-1940

Author

• Alice Veronica Johnson, Xavier University of Louisiana

Date of Award

1943

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Keywords

Negro Character, Southern Novel, Racial Stereotypes, Race Representation, Passing Theme, Zora Neale Hurston, Jessie Fauset, Literary Criticism, Democracy, Negro Renaissance

Abstract

This master’s thesis, submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Xavier University in 1943, examines how Black characters are portrayed in novels of the American South published between 1935 and 1940. Johnson begins from her observation that fiction by both white and Black authors tends to favor sensational or degraded types and to leave out the ordinary, self-respecting Black person. She asks whether Southern fiction of the period teaches democratic attitudes. After a first chapter on modern trends and techniques in the novel, she analyzes Black characters as drawn by white authors, including Robert Rylee, Elma Godchaux, Lyle Saxon, Gwen Bristow, Stark Young, and Florence Means. She then turns to Black authors, among them Jessie Fauset, Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Arna Bontemps.

Across both groups, Johnson finds recurring stereotypes and an overused “passing” theme, and she criticizes the technique of many Negro novels of the period. She also points to works she considers fairer and more balanced. Her conclusion calls for a fuller and more truthful portrayal of Black life, noting that large areas of it remain unexplored in fiction. She looks to Black writers to supply it as a contribution to democratic ideals, and she places her study against the Negro renaissance and the circumstances of World War II.

Note: No original abstract was included; this abstract is provided by the XULA Digital Commons editors.

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Alice Veronica, "A Critical Analysis of Negro Character in the American Novel of the South 1935-1940" (1943). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 158.
https://digitalcommons.xula.edu/etd/158