My thesis explores the use of masks in Dominican culture and how they reveal new understandings of Dominican people and history. It discusses the impact of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism on the island and how it shaped the formation of national identities. It argues that the ontological position of blackness has been made abject for the purpose of national identity formation. It discusses how Dominicans who find themselves blackened, abjected, and living in the subaltern mask themselves and resist using non-written forms of communication. I argue that performance and theater outside the realm of respectability is crucial to understanding how blackness evades persecution and moves beyond the nation to a shared, borderless, island identity. I explore foundational myths and how they reinforce anti-black nationalism, and how expressions of blackness in Dominican culture complicate understandings of Dominicanidad and challenge hegemonic desires for whiteness. I briefly mention the potential of Ayiti, the landscape that allows for the growth alternate stories hidden from the gaze of the state and for cultural growth across the entire island.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 33957