Nella Larsen's Passing in the 21st Century: A Queer Perspective on the Novella and Its Movie Adaptation

The article identifies and analyzes moments of queer passing in Nella Larsen’s novella Passing (1929) and its movie adaptation Passing (2021). The focus of the article is on the two main characters, Clare and Irene, whose queer passing is examined from the point of view of escaping the boundaries and restrictions of heterosexually normative spaces. In particular, the paper emphasizes how the two women manipulate and use their appearance, social status, and private relationships to slip out of normative spaces and construct new, queer spaces. In this way, the article highlights the multidimensionality of passing and the queering of boundaries it enables.