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Theses/Dissertations

2006

University of Central Florida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Race

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The Taino Are Still Alive, Taino Cuan Yahabo: An Example Of The Social Construction Of Race And Ethnicity, David Cintron Jan 2006

The Taino Are Still Alive, Taino Cuan Yahabo: An Example Of The Social Construction Of Race And Ethnicity, David Cintron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Definitions and boundaries of race and ethnicity are socially constructed. They are malleable inventions created by the negotiation of ascribed ideas from outside groups and asserted notions from the inside group's membership. The revitalization of Taíno identity and culture within the Puerto Rican and related communities is a classic case example of this negotiation. Although objective conditions exist to recognize the descendants of these Caribbean aboriginals as an identifiable group, their identities are contested and sometimes ridiculed. Even though Taíno heritage is accepted as an essential root of Puerto Rico's cultural and biological make-up, this group has been classified as …


The Sociopolitical Construction Of Race And Literary Representations Of The Biracial Subject, Kara Fontenot Jan 2006

The Sociopolitical Construction Of Race And Literary Representations Of The Biracial Subject, Kara Fontenot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Twentieth-century American literature incorporates interracial and biracial themes that bring to light the often unnamed and unrecognized biracial identities of many Americans. Unfortunately, despite the potential value for a deeper understanding of the construction of race, these themes have seldom been seriously considered in the context of reevaluating the nature of the system that creates racial labels and categories until the recent emergence of postmodern critical theories. This thesis examines the black-white interracial themes and biracial protagonists in Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928) and Danzy Senna's Caucasia (1998) in order to explore the texts' representations of systems of hegemonic power that …


Exploring Transient Identities: Deconstructing Depictions Of Gender And Imperial Ideology In The Oriental Travel Narratives Of Englishwomen, 1831-1915, Carrieanne Deloach Jan 2006

Exploring Transient Identities: Deconstructing Depictions Of Gender And Imperial Ideology In The Oriental Travel Narratives Of Englishwomen, 1831-1915, Carrieanne Deloach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Englishwomen who traveled to the "Orient" in the Victorian era constructed an identity that was British in its bravery, middle-class in its refinement, feminine in appearance and speech and Christian in its intolerance of Oriental heathenism. Studying Victorian female travel narratives that described journeys to the Orient provides an excellent opportunity to reexamine the diaphanous nature of the boundaries of the public/private sphere dichotomy; the relationship between travel, overt nationalism, and gendered constructions of identity, the link between geographic location and self-definition; the power dynamics inherent in information gathering, organization and production. Englishwomen projected gendered identities in their writings, which …