The Insistence of the Indian: Race and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century American Culture

Archives, (Inter)Mediality, and the Graphic Novel:Ghost Riveras an Indigenous Revision of Records

“…In the nineteenth century, for example, ill-informed depictions of contact between Native Americans and Euro-Americans were as present in American novels, poetry, and captivity narratives as they were on stage, in wild west shows, and in visual art, all of which contributed to the project of establishing a distinctive US-American national identity. 1 In the twentieth century, such imagery was further etched into the American mythos through the dime novel and the white-authored comic book, 2 through the iconic genre of the western (in fiction, radio, television, and film alike), and in films like Disney's megahit, Pocahontas. These popular imaginings have been deeply-and perhaps indelibly-impressed on non-Native US-American understandings of North America's intercultural history and present.At the same time, it is true that over the centuries thinkers and artists of various genres, media, and cultural backgrounds have pushed back against ignorant stereotypes, harmful political policies, unjust social discrimination, and a plethora of other deleterious factors carried in the currents of American art and culture.…”