The role of the arts and memory in mixed ethnicity Self-formation

混血人群(即父母/祖先来自不同种族背景的人)近年来在英国迅速增长(2001年和2011年的人口普查突显了这一点)。由于持续不断的媒体关注，随着许多公众人物倡导更多地承认混血族群是一个独特的群体，迫切需要研究他们的不同经历和身份认同(Aspall和Song，2013)。这个博士项目将研究黑人/白人和亚裔/白人混血儿在消费/接触艺术时如何理解自己的种族(这里具体而言，是对探索混合身份的艺术展的反应，例如惠特沃斯的雷诺展览，以及对21世纪文学中混合身份的探索，如钱德拉·普拉萨德的《混合：关于多种族经验的短篇小说选集》和帕特里斯·劳伦斯的《橙色男孩》)。在研究这一点时，它的目的是产生关于当代混合族裔认同形成背后的文化历史/记忆和过程的新知识。通过批判性话语分析和焦点小组，本研究将考察当代英国社会中围绕混血个体的艺术经历，以及他们在相互竞争的身份话语中的定位。

Mixed ethnicity people (i.e. people whose parents/ancestorsare from different ethnic backgrounds) have been a fastgrowing demographic in the UK in recent years (highlighted bythe 2001 and 2011 censuses). Due to continuous mediaattention, with many public figures advocating for increasedrecognition of mixed ethnicity as a distinct group, there is apressing need for research into their diverse experiences andidentification (Aspinall and Song, 2013). This PhD project willexamine how individuals of mixed Black/White and Asian/Whiteethnicity come to understand their ethnicity inconsuming/engaging with the arts (here specifically, reactionsto art exhibitions exploring mixed identity such as The Renoexhibition at The Whitworth, as well as explorations of mixedidentity in 21st century literature such as Chandra Prasad'sMixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the MultiracialExperience and Patrice Lawrence's Orangeboy). In examiningthis it aims to produce new knowledge of the culturalhistory/memory and processes behind the formation ofcontemporary mixed ethnic identity. Through critical discourseanalysis and focus groups, this research will examine theexperiences of the arts surrounding mixed ethnicity individualsin contemporary British society, and where they then positionthemselves between competing discourses of identity.