EXPLORING IDENTITY AND RACE APPRECIATION IN BRIT BENNETT'S THE VANISHING HALF: A CRITICAL RACE STUDY
Keywords:
Ethnic Identity Crisis, Identity, Race Appreciation, Racial Injustice, SymbolismAbstract
This study examines how race appreciation, identity, and symbolism are intricately related in Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half (2020). This study uses Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks (1952) as a lens through which to examine the psychological impacts of racism and the pursuit of whiteness as an ideal. When closely examined, the novel's exploration of ethnic identity crises, racial injustice, and the complexities of American identity reveals the tensions between white dominance and black agency. Through the journey of Stella, this study investigates the ways in which systemic racism impacts people's identities and experiences. In the conclusion, this study offers a thorough understanding of the connections between identity, symbols, and racial appreciation, shedding light on the hidden pathways that underlie the American experience.
Downloads
References
Alice Walker. (1982).The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Barot, R., & Bird, J. (2001). Racialization: the genealogy and critique of a concept. Ethnic and racial Studies, 24(4), 601-618.
Bell Jr, D. A. (1980). Brown v. Board of Education and the interest-convergence dilemma. Harvard law review, 518-533.
Bennett, B. (2020). The Vanishing Half: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel). Penguin.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2021). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Rowman & Littlefield.
Bowser, B. P. (2017). Racism: Origin and theory. Journal of black studies, 48(6), 572-590.
Butler, J., & Trouble, G. (1990). Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Gender trouble, 3(1), 3-17.
Crenshaw, K. (2013). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. In Feminist legal theories (pp. 23-51). Routledge.
Fanon, F. (1952). 2008. Black skin, white masks. Trans. Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin, white masks Grove Press. New York.
Hooks, B. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. South End Press.
Hooks, B. (1995). Killing rage: Ending racism. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Company.
Hooks, B. (1996). Killing rage: Ending racism. Journal of Leisure Research, 28(4), 316.
Hooks, B. (1996). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Journal of Leisure Research, 28(4), 316.
Hooks, B. (2014). Black looks: Race and representation.
Hooks, B. (2014). Yearning: Race, gender, and cultural politics.
Howard, T. C., & Navarro, O. (2016). Critical race theory 20 years later: Where do we go from here?. Urban Education, 51(3), 253-273.
Morrison, T. (1994). The Bluest Eye. 1970. New York, 751-59.
Sartre, J. P., & Farrington, C. (1963). THE WRETCHED DF THE EARTH.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rabia Saleem, Samina Yasmin, Sumaira Yasmeen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
