Mixed Race Studies

The Antisocial Escape of William Faulkner’s Tragic Mulattoes

University of Georgia
2008
34 pages

Courtney Thomas

A Thesis Submitted to the Honors Council of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree BACHELOR OF ARTS in ENGLISH with HONORS

With the characters of Charles Bon in Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and Joe Christmas in Light in August (1932), William Faulkner constructs two masculine versions of the traditionally female tragic mulatto narrative concerning the plight of a mixed-race individual. Ostensibly, the philandering Charles Bon and the violent Joe Christmas exemplify the “strong and silent” ultra-masculine stereotype and thus have no connection with the vulnerable and sensitive tragic mulatto female. However, Bon and Christmas are connected to this usually female archetype because both men are troubled by the internal conflict of identity that is central to the tragic mulatto myth. The men likewise fear the tragic mulatto’s fates of societal isolation and loneliness. Yet unlike the passive female who exercises little to no agency in preventing her tragic fate, Bon and Joe actively resist their prescribed fates through the manifestation of qualities indicative of antisocial personality disorder. In this thesis, I will explore the factors that lead to the development of antisocial qualities in these two characters, how the men utilize these qualities as methods of combating the confinements of the tragic mulatto myth, and how the two characters’ attempts to escape their stereotypical fates ultimately prove to be futile.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CHAPTERS
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. THE ABANDONED
    • The Elusive Father
    • A Life Without Connection
  • 3. THE TRANSFERRAL OF HURT
    • The Seduction of the Sutpens
    • The Two Joes
    • Male Revenge
  • 4. THE FEAR OF THE FATHER
    • The Sutpen Curse
    • The Fear of Family
  • 5. WALKING INTO DEATH
    • The Failure to Escape the Myth
• WORKS CITED

Read the entire thesis here.

Biracial Student Voices

University of Georgia
2008
140 pages

Willie L. Banks Jr., Associate Dean of Student Life
Cleveland State University

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILISOPHY

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of biracial students with one parent of African American heritage attending Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) in the South. This study utilized a basic qualitative research design and was comprised of three phases: semi-structured individual interviews, responses to written prompts and a photo elicitation project. Twelve participants from two southern institutions participated in this study.

Through an analysis of data four themes emerged that encapsulated the experiences of the students in this study: 1) The Search – the pre-collegiate experience, 2) Finding a Voice – the collegiate experience, 3) Breaking Free – dealing with labels from society, and 4) Here’s Where I am for Now – the evolving identity of biracial students. These themes illustrated how complex and personal biracial student development can be. The biracial students in this study used their experiences with family and friends to define their identity. Once they reached college, their circle of friends, involvement in student organizations, and finding safe spaces on campus all contributed to the students defining and redefining their biracial identity. These experiences all contributed to a generally positive experience for students in this study. Additionally, participants in this study were able to define their place in society as a biracial individual and what role society should or should not play in their identity choices. Results from this study showed that biracial identity was a complex process that started before college and that continued through college.

The findings in this study have implications for student affairs professionals. The implications include: understanding that biracial identity is complex and situational, programs and services for students of color are needed and can be beneficial for biracial students, spaces on campus need to be welcoming to all students and student affairs professionals need to structure and provide spaces that welcome and support all students, student affairs professionals need to be cognizant of the different experiences biracial students have from other students of color and will need to ensure that biracial students are provided with the options and choices provided to all students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• LIST OF TABLES
• LIST OF FIGURES
• CHAPTER
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
    • Statement of the Problem
    • Theoretical Framework
    • Research Questions and Methodology
    • Limitations of the Study
    • Significance of the Study
    • Definition of Terms
    • Summary
  • 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
    • Race
    • Biracial Identity Development
    • Bases, Borders, Identities, Patterns and Quadrants
    • Factors Influencing Racial Identity Choices
    • Multiracial Students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)
    • Recommendations from the Research
    • Summary
  • 3. METHODOLOGY
    • Design
    • Sample Selection
    • Site Selections
    • Ethical Considerations
    • Data Collection
    • Data Analysis
    • Validity and Reliability
    • Researcher Bias and Assumptions
    • Summary
  • 4. SEARCHING, FINDING A VOICE, BREAKING FREE AND HERE’S WHERE I AM FOR NOW
    • Participants
    • Presentation of Data
    • The Search
    • Finding a Voice
    • Breaking Free
    • Here’s Where I am for Now
    • Summary
  • 5. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
    • Analysis of Findings
    • Implications for Practice
    • Limitations of the Study
    • Recommendations for Future Research
    • Conclusion
• REFERENCES
• APPENDICES
  • A. Student Solicitation Email
  • B. Consent Form
  • C. Participation Information
  • D. Individual Interview Protocol
  • E. Directions for Written Prompt
  • F. Directions for Photo Elicitation

LIST OF TABLES

1. Five Patterns of Multiracial Identity
2. Placement of Participants in the Five Patterns of Multiracial Identity
3. Detailed Participant Information

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Representation of my Parents
2. Basil
3. My bedroom
4. BAM
5. The Black Hole
6. UoS Hall
7. Theater
8. UoS Stadium
9. Holding Hands
10. An Unquiet Mind
11. Camouflage

Read the entire dissertation here.

Towards a Dialogic Understanding of Print Media Stories About Black/White Interracial Families

University of Georgia
2003
160 pages

Victor Kulkosky

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS

This thesis examines print media news stories about Black/White interracial families from 1990-2003. Using the concept of dialogism, I conduct a textual analysis of selected newspaper and news magazine stories to examine the dialogic interaction between dominant and resistant discourses of racial identity. My findings suggest that a multiracial identity project can be seen emerging in print media stories about interracial families, but the degree to which this project is visible depends on each journalist’s placement of individual voices and discourses within the narrative of each story. I find some evidence of a move from placing interracial families within narratives of conflict toward a more optimistic view of such families’ position in society.

Multiracial People’s Quest for Voice

People in interracial/multiracial families are engaged in a struggle to find their voice. More accurately, they are trying to establish both an inner voice, to talk about themselves to themselves; and a public voice, to tell their stories to anyone who will listen. Dalmage (2000, p. 20) describes the search for the inner multiracial voice: “Because they do not quite fit into the historically created, officially named, and socially recognized categories, members of multiracial families are constantly fighting to identify themselves for themselves. A difficulty they face is the lack of language available to address their experiences.” This story is my story. I am White (Lithuanian, German, Irish, born in New Jersey, raised in New York City) and married to a Black woman (African, English, Cherokee, born and raised in Georgia). We have a son (born and raised in other parts of Georgia). My wife has a “white looking” half sister, who has seven nieces and nephews, some of whom add Dutch to the family tree. Finding answers to the question, “What are we?” is a family affair. Answering the question “What are you?” is a public matter…

Read the entire thesis here.

Shaping a Symbol: Schwarz-Bart’s Visions and Revisions of His Guadeloupian Heroine in La mulâtresse Solitude

Sargasso: Journal of Caribbean Literature, Language, and Culture
Volume II (2002)
pages 31-43

Aaron C. Eastley, Associate Professor of English
Brigham Young University

Much has been made by critics of André Schwarz-Bart’s singular portrayal of his historical heroine in La mulâtresse Solitude (1972), translated from the French By Ralph Manheim as A Woman Named Solitude (1973, 2001). Solitude, a mulatta slave conceived in rape during the Middle Passage, lived to become one of the most famous maroons in Guadeloupean history. As rendered by Schwarz-Bart, however, Solitude becomes a marginally sane ‘zombie-corne,’ whose documented acts of violent resistance to slavery are presented as little more than the haphazard forays of a woman acutely distracted—one who in moments of crisis often thinks she is a dog. and whose success in fighting and eluding her enemies can only reasonably be attributed to incredible good fortune…

…I would suggest, however, that there is considerably more to Andre’s interpretive vision of Solitude than is revealed by a narrow analysis focusing only on her apparent apathy in the novel. A careful examination of the text demonstrates that Schwarz-Bart did indeed work from local legend in his depiction of Solitudes life, and that his portrayal of her dementia roots that condition in the traumatic alienation which she experiences as a result of her mixed-race identity. Furthermore, the condition of madness or zombie-ism in the text is consistently portrayed as a common form of resistance resorted to by slaves in extremity—not merely as the result ot personal weakness or of any singular, “exemplary martyrdom.” Schwarz-Bart, I would suggest, demonstrates integrity in his novel by creating a complex, credible and sympathetic portrayal of his historical heroine, while working within the confines of an oral tradition which he questions but does not contravene.

In his novel, Schwarz-Bart’s lays the foundation for his portrayal of his heroine by framing very carefully the race-based rejection of Solitude by her mother, who chooses to run away without her, and by other blacks. Solitude, we are shown, is specifically left behind because of her mixed race origin and identity, and once she comes to understand this fully (as she gets older and is rejected again and again by other blacks [89, 108]), her sense of racial alienation becomes acute—for Solitude, as Schwarz-Bart sympathetically fashions her. is an individual who identifies intensely with both her mother as a person and with her mother’s race…

Read the entire article here.