Race and identity in Krazy Kat: Performance, Aesthetics, Perspectives

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Date

2014-06

Authors

Mowery, Zane

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

This work marks an attempt to redirect the focus of academic writing on race in the early twentieth-century comic strip Krazy Kat away from its author, George Herriman, and towards the comic itself. I argue that Herriman displays deep concerns with race and (more generally) identity in his work, but that these concerns do not necessarily stem from his own race or family history. In the end, Herriman's work takes a far more complex perspective towards race and identity than current analysis would imply, and this thesis therefore serves as an attempt to reopen the dialogue around Herriman and race by establishing a new point of commencement for such investigations.

Description

79 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of English and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2014.

Keywords

Comics, Herriman, Ignatz, Racial Passing, Smoked Gonda, Racism

Citation