This thesis attempts to read Rebecca Walker's memoir Black White and Jewish as an investigation into the problematic of the social construct of race. It begins with an elaboration on the society's phobia about racial amalgamation owing to its potentiality to alter color boundaries, which are maintained through the manipulation of power. Born in a society where racial purity is highly postulated, Walker encounters an identity crisis that renders her double alienated and marginalized. What follows, thereby, is an examination of the identity formation of Walker as a mixed black and white individual, as well as a discussion of how racial hybridity may challenge essentialist racialization. With its fluidity and ambiguity, Walker's mixed race identity turns out to contest and further destabilize the immutability, stability, and homogeneity of essentializing racial categories. By cherishing the boundary-crossing capability a multiracial possesses, Walker could liberate herself from the shackles of the trauma of racism.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0725107-125222 |
Date | 25 July 2007 |
Creators | Liao, Kuan-hui |
Contributors | Yu-Yen Liu, Fu-jen Chen, Yu-chen Lin |
Publisher | NSYSU |
Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text |
Format | application/pdf |
Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0725107-125222 |
Rights | not_available, Copyright information available at source archive |
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