Marketing the Myth: The Racial Commodification and Reclaiming of Aunt Jemima

<p>Through an analysis of print advertisements and of research gathered at the Jim Crow Museum of Racial Memorabilia, this thesis intends to explore how the Aunt Jemima brand from the early 1890’s to the present day has utilized multiple marketing strategies in order to garner consumer attention. Focusing specifically on Karen Cox’s notion of the “southern tableau,” M. M. Manring’s investment in Aunt Jemima as a Slave in A Box, and Patricia Yaeger’s theory of the “throwaway body,” this thesis will look at how elements of print advertising, the Aunt Jemima pancake-box, and racist memorabilia intersect. In order to experiment with the topic, this thesis has adapted Yaeger’s theory of the “throwaway body,” and has applied it to the life cycle of the Aunt Jemima pancake box, with the acknowledgement that if the icon is transformed into an item of racial memorabilia, she may be saved from disposal.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. in Southern Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Southern Studies

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Robinson, Holly

Contributors dc:contributor

• Adam Gussow
• Theresa Starkey
• Kathryn McKee

• Aunt Jemima
• Consumer Culture
• Print Advertising
• Racial Memorabilia
• Southern Tableau
• Environmental Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1235

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-2234