Date of Award
5-2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Urban Studies
Department
College of Urban and Public Affairs
Major Professor
Bethany Stich
Second Advisor
Christine Day
Third Advisor
Marla Nelson
Abstract
This research interrogates how racialized absences are produced, maintained, and incorporated within public memory. Drawing on Allan Kellehear for unobtrusive methods, Michel-Rolph Trouillot and Jacques Derrida for a postmodern understanding of archival power; positioning postmodern theory as both a diagnostic and destabilizing tool, that reveals silences and contradictions embedded in white dominant, and hegemonic narratives. Grounded in W. E. B. Du Bois’ sociological lens and extended through the theories of bell hooks and Keith Morrison, this research demonstrates the racial limit of postmodern theory while simultaneously expanding its utility in understanding “Postmodern Blackness” (hooks, 1990) Through unobtrusive methods and AI-assisted archival techniques, this research highlights how the “Negro Problem” operates as a structuring fiction- one that shapes what is remembered, what is forgotten, and what is permitted to appear in official historical accounts. By exploring contemporary black archival art and public art practices, this research shows how black artists intervene in historical erasure and create counter-memorial spaces that challenge institutional authority. Ultimately, this research seeks to offer a framework for understanding public memory as a contested site of power, where race, technology, and historiography converge.
Recommended Citation
Ofori, Anika, "A Postmodern Study of the Negro Problem Using Unobtrusive Methods" (2026). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3396.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3396
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Art Practice Commons, Canadian History Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Public History Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Justice Commons, Urban Studies Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.