Native apparitions : critical perspectives on Hollywood's Indians

Book

Native apparitions : critical perspectives on Hollywood's Indians / edited by Steve Pavlik, M. Elise Marubbio, and Tom Holm.

Pavlik, Steve, (editor,, contributor.). Marubbio, M. Elise, 1963- (editor,, contributor.). Holm, Tom, 1946- (editor,, contributor.).

Summary:

"A timely and much-needed analysis and critique of Hollywood's representation of Native Americans in mainstream films"--Provided by publisher.

"In Cherokee, the term for motion picture is a-da-yv-la-ti or a-da-yu-la-ti, meaning 'something that appears.' In essence, motion pictures are machine-produced apparitions. While the Cherokee language recognizes that movies are not reality, Western audiences may on some level assume that film portrayals offer sincere depictions of imagined possibilities, creating a logic where what is projected must in part be true, stereotype or not. Native Apparitions offers a critical intervention and response to Hollywood's representations of Native peoples in film, from historical works by director John Ford to more contemporary works, such as Apocalypto and Avatar. But more than a critique of stereotypes, this book is a timely call for scholarly activism engaged in Indigenous media sovereignty. The collection clusters around three approaches: retrospective analysis, individual film analysis, and Native- and industry-centered testimonials and interviews, which highlight indigenous knowledge and cultural context, thus offering a complex and multilayered dialogic and polyphonic response to Hollywood's representations. Using an American Indian studies framework, Native Apparitions deftly illustrates the connection between Hollywood's representations of Native peoples and broader sociopolitical and historical contexts connected to colonialism, racism, and the Western worldview. Most importantly, it shows the impact of racializing stereotypes on Native peoples, and the resilience of Native peoples in resisting, transcending, and reframing Hollywood's Indian tropes"--Publisher's description

Record details

ISBN: 9780816535477
ISBN: 0816535477
Physical Description: viii, 240 pages ; 23 cm
Publisher: Tucson : The University of Arizona Press, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Filmography: pages 225-229.
Formatted Contents Note:: Preface. A dedication in memory of Steve Pavlik -- Indians, American Indian studies and the depiction of indigenous peoples in American commercial cinema : an introduction / Steve Pavlik, M. Elise Marubbio, and Tom Holm -- Thank you, Adam Sandler & Co., for giving us a Native American Rosa Parks moment / Myrton Running Wolf -- Reconsidering America's errand : wilderness and "Indians" in cinema / Richard M. Wheelock -- Fighting the white man's wars (on the silver screen) : a look at the images of Native American servicemen in film / Richard Allen and Tom Holm -- The dys-passion of the Indian, or Tonto goes to town / Chadwick Allen -- Look at the heart of The Searchers : the centrality of look to John Ford's commentary on racism / M. Elise Marubbio -- Searching for Pocahontas : the portrayal of an indigenous icon in Terence Malick's The New World / Steve Pavlik -- The four horsemen of Mel Gibson's epic Apocalypto : racism, violence, mendacity, and nonsense / Tom Holm -- Avatar : colonization marches on ... / Rose Roberts -- Through Indian eyes : programming Native American cinema / Jan-Christopher Horak -- "You have to define yourself as an Inuit person, if that's what you want to do" : an interview with Andrew Okpeaha MacLean / Joanna Hearne, Jacqueline Land, and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean.