What do I look like? Narratives of origin, heredity and identity inscribed in appearance

Genetic anthropology studies offer evolutionary and migratory narratives to characterize individuals and human groups based on genetic traits. From the analysis of genetic infor- mation, these studies construct genealogies that connect body characteristics with geogra- phies and stories of origin. In recent years, an international group of researchers worked in a project focusaed on Latin American populations. In this paper, we present the results of our ethnographic work and interviews with participants in this project. Based on this ma- terial, we show that Mexican participants tend to use their physical appearance, typological ideas of human difference, family stories and family names to give meaning to scientific terms such as genetic ancestry. Participants rely on shared visual habits to interpret their own and others’ appearance and to negotiate their belonging to racial, ethnic and family groups.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-SA

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   Self-reported race/ethnicity in the age of genomic research: its potential impact on understanding health disparities · 2015

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