Date Awarded

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

American Studies

Advisor

Leisa Meyer

Committee Member

Simon Stow

Committee Member

Brianna Nofil

Abstract

These two essays explore the ways in which cultural identities are impacted by external forces within an environment, specifically grief and storytelling. In the first essay, the cultural identity of American Muslims is examined through the lens of the post-9/11 protests against the Córdoba House Muslim Community Center in New York City. The “grief-wrath” that was utilized against the Muslim Community by Islamophobic protesters is then explored in other instances within the United States, relating to the identity formation and expression that can happen in ways that refute discrimination and oppression. The second essay details the ways storytelling can express cultural identity through genre-specific decisions and the mode of blockbuster filmmaking, specifically in the Marvel film Black Panther. The marrying of Afrofuturist and Africanfuturist motifs within the film reveals diasporic nuances that reflect many experiences of those within the Black/African diaspora, in ways that have not been seen in large-scale productions in Hollywood.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-nnyf-2d66

Rights

© The Author

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