In The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett delves into the complexities of racial identity through the phenomenon of “racial passing,” centering on the lives of twin sisters, Desiree and Stella, who, though born to Black parents, have the ability to pass as White. Their contrasting life choices—Desiree’s return to her Black roots and Stella’s embrace of a White identity—highlight the psychological, familial, and societal struggles faced by biracial individuals in a racially divided society. Bennett uses their experiences to interrogate the internal conflict of navigating an identity that resists fixed racial categories, revealing the emotional toll of reconciling personal self-understanding with societal expectations. On a familial level, the novel examines how the sisters’ choices lead to estrangement and alienation, illustrating the emotional costs of distancing oneself from one’s racial heritage in pursuit of social acceptance. At the societal level, Bennett critiques the entrenched structures of white supremacy, as Stella’s ability to pass allows her to access privileges systematically denied to Black individuals. This critique of racial privilege reflects broader themes within comparative literary studies, where race is often explored as a social construct that assigns value based on proximity to Whiteness, particularly in contexts marked by colonial legacies and racial hierarchies. Through the lens of racial passing, The Vanishing Half challenges traditional notions of race, drawing attention to the complexities of identity formation in a world that demands conformity to rigid racial categories. In comparative literary terms, Bennett’s work contributes to global discussions on race, identity, and belonging, inviting readers to reflect on how similar mechanisms of racial categorization operate across different cultural and historical contexts. The novel encourages a deeper understanding of the psychological and emotional toll of racial identity formation, urging readers to reconsider the costs of conforming to societal expectations in a racially polarized world. By focusing on the lived experiences of those navigating the margins of racial identity, Bennett’s narrative enriches the comparative study of race and ethnicity, offering a nuanced perspective on the intersections of identity, power, and belonging.

No matter the time or culture, humanity has shown a fascination with the sky and what lies beyond it. Texas is no exception, as seen with the small town of Merkel being famous for aerial sightings. In 1897, the newspaper Houston Post reported a story of an aerial sighting by church goers in this area. It was claimed that after church, they came across an anchor tied to a rope which led up into the sky. The anchor was snagged on a railway, and a mysterious man climbed down the rope, released the anchor, and was never seen again.

What is striking about this story is that it has many similarities between various folktales recorded in Medieval Northern European manuscripts. The most famous of these tales is the ship of Clonmacnoise which is featured in the Irish Annals with the story taking place in 740. This variant of the story claims a fishing spear fell from the sky and got trapped in the local church. Witnesses could see a flying boat in the sky and a man swimming through the air to free the anchor. The sailor was caught by the townspeople but was released when he screamed that they were drowning him. He then cut the rope of the anchor and swam back into the sky. Other versions of this story also exist in the Book of Leinster, the Book of Ballymote, the French manuscript Otia Imperialia and the Norse manuscript Konungs Skuggsja.

The purpose of this presentation is to compare the connections and prove the origins of aerial sightings in Texas newspapers being inspired by similar stories featured in various European manuscripts.

"Marvelous real" is one of the core theories of Latin American Magic Realism, which has guided the cosmopolitan turn of Latin American realistic narrative, established the world connection of Latin American narrative, and provided a path for the integration of Latin American narrative and the world narrative aesthetic system. Since its inception, Latin American novels, especially the novels of Magic Realism, have crossed the local territory of Latin America and exerted a worldwide influence.

The term "Marvelous real" of Magic Realism was proposed by Carpentier, and this concept was mainly rooted from his theories about the narrative art of the 18th-century British Gothic novels.When he contacted with Surrealism in France, Carpentier developed some new views on literature and then broke away from Surrealism. This also promoted the further formation of the concept of "Marvelous real" from another aspect. When referring to the "literary magic" in Europe, Carpentier listed examples from Gregory Lewis's "The Monk," affirmed "magic," and replaced the word "literary" in the "literary magic" of Europe with "reality" of Latin America, indicating the shift of narrative of Latin Ameirca.

This paper explores the cultural representations of two pivotal moments in American history: the arrival of enslaved Africans in 1619 and the Pilgrims' landing in 1620. By examining how these events are depicted in literature, art, and public memory, the study highlights the contrasting narratives of coercion and voluntary migration that shape the U.S.’s national identity. It further investigates how these representations inform contemporary discussions on immigration, race, and social justice. The legacies of slavery and colonialism are analyzed alongside modern immigrant experiences, while emphasizing the evolving cultural and political debates around belonging and equity in the United States. This work also considers activist movements and reimagined public histories as key to fostering more inclusive understandings of American identity today.