SKIN DEEP BLACK DESTINY. COLORISM AND ARTISTIC FATE IN THE WORKS OF WALLACE THURMAN.

Abstract

My thesis will be divided into 4 chapters: Chapter 1: Translation from English to Italian of the first 4 chapters of the book Infants of The Spring by Wallace Thurman. These chapters are introduced by some personal considerations on the translation and the difficulties met in trying to render the same concepts, especially the difficulty of rendering the spoonerisms from English into Italian. Chapter 2: Biographical analysis of Wallace Thurman’s life and ideas, in particular how he developed his personality and ideas.

Chapter 3: Analysis of the major themes of Thurman in Infants of the Spring and in The Blacker The Berry, emphasizing the problem of the skin color in those days among black people/colorism. In particular his idea of intra-racism/ colorism within the black communities, his criticism of the Harlem Renaissance and the fact that black people always wanted to please white people/ the servilism of the African American community.

Chapter 4: Critical reactions to Black American Writers at the time. Wallace Thurman isn’t considered much by the critic, analysing the reasons why and how he is seen today/ the poor critical reception of Wallace Thurman's work and the reasons behind it.