a lot of loose ends: a research on the self-narration of biracial and mixed race people and music’s role herein

This thesis investigates the way in which biracial and mixed race people with proximity to whiteness in the Netherlands narrate themselves, and what role music plays in shaping these self-narrations. To do so, the music voice approach is used, which considers that individuals use music to apply meaning to themselves, larger social contexts and personal experiences by creating playlists (Van Bohemen, Den Hartog & Van Zoonen, 2018). Through literature on mixedness, whiteness, music and self-narration, playlist analysis and qualitative interviews, it becomes clear in this thesis that biracial and mixed race people with proximity to whiteness often experience the feeling of being different, and struggle with their mixed identities. These feelings and struggle form a significant part of their self-narrations, but learning how to make sense of these feelings and struggles, and understanding their identities also are of importance in these narratives. It is within this sense-making that music influences their narratives, as it offers them a sense of connection to their family and/or heritage, understanding and/or belonging, which helps in forming their self-narrations.