Accustomly Intermarried: Racial/National Intermarriages and Their Negotiation of Family Celebrations

Author

Jori Adrianna Nkwenti, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Abstract

Previous quantitative works gives a decent account for the predictors of racial/national intermarriages, and qualitative research finds that intercultural couples negotiate their racial, national, religious, class, and cultural differences within the context of their intimate relationships and the broader stigma of the social world. However, no scholars, to my knowledge, have looked intently at this intersection of interracial and international intermarriages. Related, scholars have not dissected how these couples negotiate their family celebrations-despite research showing the importance of celebrations to family well-being. Through autoethnographic reflexivity, and in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 4 individuals married to a spouse of a different race and nationality (one U.S. born), I try to answer how racial/national spouses negotiate their family celebrations. Results reiterate that racial/national intermarriages are complex and multifaceted. Yet, my findings suggest that increased geographic proximity and accessible communication to non-U.S.-born family increases the racial/national intermarriage to adopt more of the non-U.S.-born spouses’ cultural traditions: making culturally shared celebrations more likely.

Advisor

Aaron Hoy

Committee Member

Vicki Hunter

Committee Member

Chris Brown

Date of Degree

2022

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Program of Study

Sociology: College Teaching Emphasis

College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Recommended Citation

Nkwenti, J. A. (2022). Accustomly intermarried: racial/national intermarriages and their negotiation of family celebrations [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1209/

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.