Mixed Race Antecedents: Black Hybridity in Cultural Production, 1960-1989 looks at how cultural producers of African descent in the U.S. from the 1960s through the 1980s conceptualized racial and cultural hybridity. I analyze writers and artists who were grappling with how to think about their multiple heritages while simultaneously considering the political implications of their racial hybridity. Before the Census Movement of the 1990s narrowed the discussion of racial hybridity to boxes on government forms, these playwrights, authors, and visual artists were thinking about hybridity in a different register. They explored connections between personal and political identities, the relationships between experiences and art, and the significance of having multiple racial/ethnic heritages when race in America was still very much operating under the auspices of the one-drop rule. Their creative explorations during this time distinguishes them as mixed race antecedents, those who were looking for the political and aesthetic uses of black hybridity during the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s and Gay Liberation, and their corollary art movements. I draw from critical race theory, performance studies, autobiography studies, and cultural studies to understand the complex relationship artists and writers had to the social movements that defined their historical moment while asserting their own conceptions of how racial hybridity functions for those of African descent in the U.S. In so doing, this project challenges the predominant narrative of critical mixed race studies by arguing that mixed race identity formations were emerging in American culture during and after the civil rights era, not just during the Census Movement. Particularly, I focus on the possibility of racial and cultural hybridity not replacing blackness, like what a post-racial world would ask us to do, but instead, prompting further exploration and expansion of blackness.

I struggle to present work that reflects a psychological expressivity which at the same time conveys intellectual concepts that are of concern to me. It seems that the fluidity of an image can communicate a certain pathos, and correspond to the fluid nature of one’s identity. Drippy paint, distorted bodies, and vertiginous video clips can give an indication about what a body feels like from within. Depictions of these bodily feelings help to communicate ideas about what it means to be alive in general, and a mixed race woman, in particular.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the limited literature on Mixed-Race identity development in the post-apartheid context while providing a personal, evocative, and critical exploration of Mixed-Race identity. The objectives were to use self-reflection as a tool to think critically about how close relationships and other systemic factors (such as friendships, school environment and broader societal factors) that contributed to my Mixed-Race identity development, played a significant role. The autoethnographic methodology was used to harness the quality of evocative and personal writing in the process of knowledge creation and establishing a voice for the Mixed-Race experience through the narration of my personal experiences. Autoethnography is a methodology that situates the researcher as the ‘data’ by using first-person accounts of their experiences to analyse and discuss particular social and cultural phenomena. Root’s ecological model for multiracial identity development was used as a framework to explore and analyse how systemic factors influenced and shaped my Mixed-Race identity development. Additionally, Worthman’s bio-ecocultural model was used to explore the influence of my bond with my parents on my racial identity formation in childhood. Data collection involved me engaging in a reflexive journaling process. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes from my reflexive journal. Three main themes were found, namely my bond with my parents and their socialisation practices, my experience of being ‘the other’ and an outsider in social settings, and my close friendships. While I discuss the themes separately, there was considerable overlap between the themes and the factors involved in the discussion which suggests a complex relationship between multiple systemic factors (i.e. gender, skin tone, familial relationships, and social settings) that influenced my racial identity development. In conclusion, my racial identity development was (and still is) a lifelong process of self-discovery as I continue to be confronted with my dual-racial heritage in a predominantly monoracial South Africa. Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the limitations and potential recommendations for future research has also been discussed. / Mini Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))-- University of Pretoria, 2021. / Psychology / MA (Clinical Psychology) / Unrestricted

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