Eleanor DeHoog

Mardi Gras: A Tradition of Oppression and a Grounds for Counter Culture Resistance

Started May 23, 2023

Abstract or project description

Eleanors project is about the ways that oppression and resistance are present within Mardi Gras cultures dating back to the 19th century. She is using visual images, drawings, and event signage to explore the ways that Mardi Gras was a site to push forth white supremacy. She then is looking at similar images to explore the ways that Black krewes used Mardi Gras as a site of resistance. Her working hypothesis at this point is that the early black Mardi Gras krewes served as inspiration for women and queer actors as they became more involved in Mardi Gras over the course of the 20th century. While these minorities always played an active role behind the scenes, their emergence to the forefront is an important site of study as it speaks to resistance to white supremacy in the American south, in New Orleans and in the Mardi Gras tradition.