Racial Segregation and Identity Negotiation in Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half: A Postcolonial Analysis of Mimicry and Hybridity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32493/mps.v8i1.56078Keywords:
mixed race community, postcolonialism, racial segregationAbstract
This study aims to examine how racial segregation is depicted in the novel and to analyze how the characters navigate their identities within the context of segregation. The primary source of this research is The Vanishing Half (2020) written by Brit Bennett. This study employs a descriptive qualitative method, and the findings are presented in narrative form. The analysis is guided by postcolonial theory, particularly the concepts of mimicry and hybridity proposed by Homi K. Bhabha. The results reveal that racial segregation is portrayed as a systematic practice enforced in public spaces, functioning as a form of social control that sustains White supremacy over Black communities. Furthermore, the novel illustrates how mixed-race characters negotiate and reconstruct their identities through strategies of mimicry and hybridity in response to racial oppression.
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