Title Invisible natives : myth and identity in the American western / Armando José Prats

Published Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, ©2002

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Description 1 online resource (xxi, 317 pages) : illustrations Contents "By all the truth of signs": the Indian in synecdoche -- Prospects from the spaces of the same: the Indian, the land, and the "civilized eye" -- "When the Apaches speak": revisionism's discursive dominance -- "Chartered in two worlds": the double other -- "Not enemies, not friends": racio-cultural ambivalence and mythology's ahistorical imperatives Summary This incisive, provocative, and wide-ranging book casts a critical eye on the representation of Native Americans in the Western film since the genre's beginnings. Armando José Prats shows the ways in which film reflects cultural transformations in the course of America's historical encounter with "the Indian." He also explores the relation between the myth of conquest and American history. Among the films he discusses at length are Northwest Passage, Stagecoach, The Searchers, Hombre, Hondo, Ulzana's Raid, The Last of the Mohicans, and Dances With Wolves. Throughout, Prats emphasizes the irony that the Western seems to be able to represent Native Americans only by rendering them absent. In addition, he points out that Native Americans who appear in Westerns are almost always male; Native women rarely figure into the plot, and are often portrayed by white women rendered "Indian" by narrative necessity. Invisible Natives offers an intriguing view of the possibilities and consequences-as well as the historical sources and cultural origins-of the Western's strategies for evading the actual portrayal of Native Americans Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-306) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Print version record Subject Indians in motion pictures. Western films -- History and criticism SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- Native American Studies. Indians in motion pictures Western films Indianer Motiv Western Film Westernliteratur Wild-westfilms. Indianen. Identiteit. Mythevorming. USA Indianer <Motiv> Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. Western films Form Electronic book ISBN 9781501729539 1501729535

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