(IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING)
The Great Gatsby, a Blues Narrative of Racial Passing”
After our 2024 Annual Membership meeting, please join us for an insightful presentation by Dr. Carlyle Van Thompson, where he delves into the compelling narrative of racial passing in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, “The Great Gatsby.”
Drawing from his groundbreaking work in “The Tragic Black Buck,” Dr. Thompson examines the complex phenomenon of black males passing for white in American literature, particularly during the first third of the twentieth century. This seminal work unveils the paradoxical nature of passing for white, which both challenges the prevailing ideology of biological white supremacy and denies one’s blackness. Through an exploration of themes such as race, gender, skin color, class, and law, Dr. Thompson illuminates the intricate literary tropes of miscegenation, mimicry, and masquerade
Central to Dr. Thompson’s discussion are the narratives of Charles Waddell Chesnutt’s “The House Behind the Cedars,” James Weldon Johnson’s “The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” and William Faulkner’s “Light in August.”
5:30-6:30 PM
annual meeting
may 7, 2024
Join our Annual Meeting Via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87496047889?
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Meeting ID: 874 9604 7889 Passcode: 868962
One tap mobile 1301715859
312 626 6799 US (Chicago) 646 558 8656 US (New York)
6:30-7:30 pm
virtual talk
may 7, 2024
Join our Virtual Talk Via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83660916774?
PW:
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With a rich academic background, Dr. Thompson obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the Center for Worker Education at City College, City University of New York. Despite the demands of working a full-time position at the New York City Transit Authority, he pursued higher education with unwavering determination, earning his Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and ultimately his Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. His academic journey was marked by excellence, earning him distinctions such as the Ford Foundation Fellowship and the Woodrow Wilson Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities.
Dr. Thompson’s scholarly pursuits have culminated in several seminal works that have reshaped the discourse surrounding race, identity, and representation in literature. His publications, including “The Tragic Black Buck: Racial Masquerading in the American Literary Imagination” (2004), “Eating the Black Body: Miscegenation as Sexual Consumption in African American Literature and Culture” (2006), and “Black Outlaws: Race, Law, and Male Subjectivity in African American Literature and Culture” (2010), stand as pillars of critical inquiry, shedding light on complex themes and narratives often overlooked or misunderstood.
Beyond his prolific writing, Dr. Thompson’s commitment to education extends to his role as Former Dean of the School for Liberal Arts and Education at Medgar Evers College, where he has fostered an environment of academic excellence and inclusivity. His dedication to scholarship and social justice is evident in his scholarly endeavors, notably his insightful analysis of police brutality in New York City, which brought attention to pressing issues of racial injustice.
As a respected authority in his field, Dr. Carlyle Van Thompson continues to inspire generations of students and scholars alike, leaving an enduring legacy of intellectual rigor and social advocacy in the realm of American and African American literature.
…“F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly uses race as a means to characterize Jay Gatsby as a Black man passing as white.”….
birthday celebration
Sunday, October 13th, 2024, 5:00 – 6:30
Free Zoom Session from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86142652648?pwd=TG5aT0JZSm5NVjBia1JyTUZ4N0djUT09
F. Scott Fitzgerald & Jazz Age Magazines”
Alexandra Mitchell & Jennifer Nolan
Alexandra spent a decade collecting the complete short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and is co-editor of The Complete Magazine Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1921-1924. She uses digital humanities techniques to illuminate their historical contexts for the contemporary reader. She received her undergraduate degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and her Master’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Glasgow.
Jennifer Nolan is associate professor of English at North Carolina State University and a member of the board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society. She has published extensively on the periodical contexts of Fitzgerald’s short stories in journals such as Book History, Journal of Modern Periodical Studies, and The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, and in several edited volumes, and she is co-editor of The Complete Magazine Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1921-1924.