Title:

Do You Understand Me: Language as a Barrier and Border for Mixed-Race Characters

Languages are one of the easiest ways for us to identify with a group. Even within languages, the variations of dialects and accents help us recognize with which group(s) we belong. Authors frequently use language to identify the racial and ethnic backgrounds of characters in stories because visuals on a page may not be enough. In my paper I discuss the ways that authors use this as a characterization tool for characters with mixed-race backgrounds, but also how characters have it used to limit or define them. I consider the protagonists of Senna’s Caucasia and de la Peña’s Mexican WhiteBoy and review the ways in which their language, both real and imagined, are used to limit their identity. Using examples from each novel I show how their language, and lack of language, force them to create their own community to match their mixed-race identities.

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