Shape-Shifting: Images of Native Americans in Recent Popular FictionThis study of the Native American in the western, romance, detective, horror, and science fiction genres examines how even historically accurate representations distort and bias the Native American figure to fit European-based traditions and modern agendas. The authors provide critical approaches for evaluating the literature. They argue that while popular fiction conventions determine and limit authentic portraits of Native American cultures, successful popular fiction writers approach literary quality by fusing authentic Native American culture with the standard genre conventions. Approximately 200 books are discussed and evaluated, and true Native American stories and writings are contrasted with mainstream versions of Indian culture. |
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... figure : the Other , the Alien , the generalized Non - European . This figure soon outgrew its very real progenitors to serve the needs of whites : of Puritans seeking certification of their own favored status even as they en- countered ...
... figure of the American Indian into popular culture emblems that , although cast in the forms of defined genres , deal with changing issues on the national landscape . Our investigation will show how the Indian figure serves different ...
... figure seems solidly entrenched in some genres , especially the romance and the Western , where readership demands appear to have overruled systematic updating of con- ventionalized and stereotyped figures . The detective and magic ...
Contents
Native Americans of the Imagination | 1 |
Accessing a Different | 21 |
The Enduring Creation Story | 45 |
Copyright | |
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