Exploring the “Tragic Mulatto” Stereotype Through Film History |
Exploring the “Tragic Mulatto” Stereotype Through Film History
National Social Science Journal
National Social Science Associaton
Volume 28, Number 1 (2007)
pages 88-91
Robert W. Pineda-Volk, Professor of Sociology
Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Considerable attention has been given to the prevalence and persistence of black stereotypes in U. S. culture. Yet one of these identified stereotypes, the “tragic mulatto,” has received relatively cursory attention from scholars and social critics of film and popular culture. In a society historically bent in maintaining rigid social boundaries, this omission is highly problematic. This paper begins to address this shortcoming by examining the construction of this image in popular film and analyzing its political functions and sociological impact in terms of race, gender, and class.
Article Outline
- The Birth of a Nation and the Rise of the Cinematic Society
- The Social Construction of the Tragic Mulatto
- Making the “Tragic Mulatto” Mulatto
- Making the “Tragic Mulatto” Female
- Making the “Tragic Mulatto” Tragic
- Discussion
- The Gaze, the Look, and the Other
- Tragic Mulattoes and Contemporary Cinema
- Reference
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Tags: National Social Science Journal, Robert Pineda-Volk, Robert W. Pineda-Volk