Whiteness and the Movement of Signification: Toward a Deconstruction of Ontologies of Absolute Difference

The field of critical whiteness studies relies on a presupposition that whiteness is a way to categorize a group of people as absolutely different from another. This is a flawed presupposition, as it creates an ontology of absolute difference (defined as a mode of being rooted in qualities of immutable difference) reinscribing the logic of race as an organizing principle of social and political life. This thesis uses deconstructive theory to suggest that whiteness needs to be understood as a discursive formation operating within a movement of signification. Deconstruction allows for an understanding of how whiteness arises out of a process of constructing meaning. This thesis uses four novels as case studies: Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim, Jean Toomer’s Cane, and Nella Larsen’s Quicksand and Passing. Lord Jim critiques the actions of white people in a way that relies on presuppositions of absolute difference. In this way, Lord Jim anticipates critical whiteness studies. Cane demonstrates how conceptualizing whiteness as founded in absolute difference does not hold up under pressure arrived at a priori. Quicksand demonstrates how whiteness works in the movement of signification and Passing works to deconstruct whiteness as an ontology of absolute difference. This project looks to Cane, Quicksand, and Passing to demonstrate how whiteness can be conceptualized without reinscribing whiteness as an ontology of absolute difference.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Panciera, Aaron

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Trout, Steven

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wittman, Emily
• McKnight, Utz

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

1052740

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/13804