Mixed Race Asian Subjectivities and Genres of the Self

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dc.contributor.advisorLai, Larissa
dc.contributor.authorMah-Vierling, Jade Aliya
dc.contributor.committeememberSrivastava, Aruna
dc.contributor.committeememberJanoviček, Nancy
dc.contributor.committeememberPrud'homme-Cranford, L. Rain
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-06T15:41:52Z
dc.date.available2019-05-06T15:41:52Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-29
dc.description.abstractThrough the work of life writing, this thesis examines representations of mixed race Asian subjectivity. Although the idea of “race” is a social construct with no biological essence, race continues to be enacted through racism and racialization, making it “real” through embodied experiences and systemic inequalities. Through my exploration of genres such as memoir, biotext and documentary, this thesis sheds light on the disruptive potentials of multiracial discourse when it comes to ideas of race, identity and nation. The mixed race subjects depicted in these texts create ruptures in these settled categories of belonging by transgressing their boundaries and in doing so, pointing out their constructedness. However, in other moments, these constructs remain intact, holding the mixed race subject inside a particular category that may not align with her or his self-identity. In All Our Father’s Relations, for example, the Musqueam-Chinese Grant siblings are forced out of the racial category of “Indigenous” and into that of “Chinese” due to the gendered, patriarchal language of the Indian Act. Differently, for Diamond Grill’s narrator, he is able to let moments of racial misrecognition “ride” by choosing to slip beneath normative configurations of race and nation while he attempts to understand his racialized experiences. Finally, in Hapa Girl: A Memoir, May-lee and Jeff Chai slip in and out of particular racial and cultural spaces as they internalize the labelling of their bodies. Ultimately, these racialized experiences inform how the mixed race subject sees and produces her or his “self” through the work of life writing.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMah-Vierling, J. A. (2019). Mixed Race Asian Subjectivities and Genres of the Self (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36473
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110297
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectCritical Mixed Race Studiesen_US
dc.subjectSettler Colonialismen_US
dc.subjectPostcolonialismen_US
dc.subjectAnti-Racismen_US
dc.subjectFeminismen_US
dc.subjectNationalismen_US
dc.subjectIdentityen_US
dc.subjectLife Writingen_US
dc.subject.classificationLiteratureen_US
dc.subject.classificationHistory--Canadianen_US
dc.subject.classificationHistory--United Statesen_US
dc.subject.classificationEthnic and Racial Studiesen_US
dc.titleMixed Race Asian Subjectivities and Genres of the Selfen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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