ABSTRACT. Can individuals choose how they will be perceived by others? What are the consequences of human beings’ efforts to control the societal gaze? In this chapter, I explore both issues through a consideration of Nella Larsen’s Passing alongside Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts. I first examine the ways these two texts respectively define the binaries and normativity within which the central characters find themselves and the reasons there is pressure to ‘pass.’ I next explore the ways the works both reinforce and resist the idea of ‘being enough’ in relation to normative social constructs. I then consider the texts collectively to understand what both literary works say about not belonging and the available ways to cope in a society that seems to prefer a different kind of being than the one a figure exists in within his/her/their body. Finally, I report on my own recent study of Passing and The Argonauts within a secondary independent school setting. I include student voices alongside my own to make visible how 21st-century high school students interpret the ‘longing to just be’ in the ways Larsen and Nelson describe. I conclude by looking at the implications of this work for the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) curricula and English Language Arts (ELA) instruction.

Keywords: performance; performativity; passing; DEIJ curricula; ELA instruction

How to cite: Kelly, K. (B.) (2024). When the body is not enough: The societal gaze in Nella Larsen’s Passing and Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts. Knowledge Cultures, 12(1), 257-269. https://doi.org/10.22381/kc121202414

Received October 16, 2023 • Received in revised form February 23, 2024
Accepted February 23, 2024 • Available online April 1, 2024