{"id":39901,"date":"2015-02-08T19:49:53","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T19:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=39901"},"modified":"2015-02-08T19:49:53","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T19:49:53","slug":"the-mixed-race-girls-guide-to-the-art-of-passing-racial-simulations-in-danzy-sennas-caucasia-and-nella-larsens-quicksand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=39901","title":{"rendered":"The mixed-race girl\u2019s guide to the art of passing: racial simulations in Danzy Senna\u2019s Caucasia and Nella Larsen\u2019s Quicksand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mixed-race girl\u2019s guide to the art of passing: racial simulations in Danzy Senna\u2019s <\/strong><\/em>Caucasia<\/strong> and Nella Larsen\u2019s <\/strong><\/em>Quicksand<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Florida Atlantic University
\nMay 2014
\n65 pages<\/p>\n

Gyasi S. Byng<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, Florida Atlantic University<\/em><\/p>\n

Racial identifications are continually influenced by and constructed through one\u2019s environment. Building on Jean Baudrillard\u2019s<\/a> \u201cThe Precession of Simulacra<\/a>\u201d and Gaston Bachelard\u2019s<\/a> The Poetics of Space<\/em><\/a>, this thesis argues that houses and clothing are the material objects that allow characters Birdie Lee from Danzy Senna\u2019s<\/a> Caucasia<\/em><\/a> and Helga Crane from Nella Larsen\u2019s<\/a> Quicksand<\/em><\/a> to construct their mixed race identities. Birdie Lee\u2019s childhood home is the place where she develops a mixed race identity. When she leaves that home, she is forced to take on simulacra<\/a> in order to pass for white<\/a>. Without a stable childhood or adult home, Helga Crane\u2019s wardrobe becomes the space where she unconsciously develops a mixed race identity. Her clothing choices allow her to simulate an entirely black identity that masks her mixed race heritage. Ultimately, the fates of Birdie and Helga are determined by whether or not they can occupy a space that is accepting of their mixed race identities.<\/p>\n

Read the entire thesis here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mixed-race girl\u2019s guide to the art of passing: racial simulations in Danzy Senna\u2019s Caucasia and Nella Larsen\u2019s Quicksand Florida Atlantic University May 2014 65 pages Gyasi S. Byng A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[838,1196,8,6462,25],"tags":[1340,19307,19306,19305,87],"class_list":["post-39901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dissertations","category-literary-criticism","category-media-archive","category-passing-2","category-women","tag-danzy-senna","tag-florida-atlantic-university","tag-gyasi-byng","tag-gyasi-s-byng","tag-nella-larsen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}