Articulating Identity: Refining Postcolonial and Whiteness Perspectives on Race within Communication Studies

Abstract

This paper juxtaposes postcolonial and whiteness scholarship to identify gaps and clarify influences on critical race scholarship within communication studies. This paper considers the multiplicity of each perspective and identifies the focus on race and the body as communicative texts as a linkage that unites the three perspectives. How each perspective informs a communicative understanding of race is explored through the constructs of Cartesian dualism, performance, and the gaze. The paper concludes with suggestions for future directions for interrogating race within the communication discipline, including a consideration of how white privilege is extended to and assumed by individuals who are not white.

Keywords:

• Postcolonial
• Whiteness
• Race and the Body
• Critical Race Scholarship
• White Privilege

A version of this paper was presented at the 2007 NCA convention in Chicago, IL.

A version of this paper was presented at the 2007 NCA convention in Chicago, IL.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Mimi Hinchcliff-Pelias, Warren Alley, Raymie McKerrow, and the anonymous reviewers who provided the feedback and critique that were used to improve this paper.

Notes

A version of this paper was presented at the 2007 NCA convention in Chicago, IL.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gordon Alley-Young

Gordon Alley Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications and Performing Arts at Kingsborough Community College-City University of New York