Synopses & Reviews
During the post-World War II period, the Western, like Americas other great film genres, appeared to collapse as a result of revisionism and the emergence of new forms. Perhaps, however, as theorists like Gilles Deleuze suggest, it remains, simply “maintaining its empty frame.” Yet this frame is far from empty, as
Post-Westerns shows us: rather than collapse, the Western instead found a new form through which to scrutinize and question the very assumptions on which the genre was based. Employing the ideas of critics such as Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, and Jacques Rancière, Neil Campbell examines the haunted inheritance of the Western in contemporary U.S. culture. His book reveals how close examination of certain postwar films—including
Bad Day at Black Rock,
The Misfits,
Lone Star,
Easy Rider,
Gas Food Lodging,
Down in the Valley, and
No Country for Old Men—reconfigures our notions of region and nation, the Western, and indeed the West itself.
Campbell suggests that post-Westerns are in fact “ghost-Westerns,” haunted by the earlier forms devices and styles in ways that at once acknowledge and call into question the West, both as such and in its persistent ideological framing of the national identity and values.
Review
“Post-Westerns is distinguished by its theoretical sophistication, its brilliant close readings of the form and content of a diversity of modern and contemporary films, and its close meditation on the potential politics associated with such films [as they] address the intersection of memory, identity, and history.”—Stephen Tatum, author of In the Remington Moment
Review
"Readers of western history and literature and, of course, fans of the Western will find Campbell's insights and interpretations a compelling reason to revisit the post-Westerns he analyzes so well."—Leonard Engel, Western Historical Quarterly
Review
"A fascinating resource for those interested in the history of Native Americans in film, the contradictions of racial visual representations, and the emergence of a Native filmmaking aesthetic."and#8212;J. Ruppert, Choice
Review
and#8220;Deeply researched and beautifully conceptualized and written, this volume will be of great interest to scholars of history, film, and indigenous cultural production.and#8221;and#8212;Beth H. Piatote, Western Historical Quarterlyand#160;
Review
"Raheja's archival research and extensive references to relatively unknown films will prove useful to scholars of indigenous media and representational practices, as will the exposition of visual sovereignty, the work's strongest contribution that will be discussed and utilized for years to come." and#8212;Leighton C. Peterson, Journal of the American Ethnological Society
Review
andquot;This thoroughly researched book is a significant contribution to film studies. . . . Rahejaand#39;s theoretical inventions recommend Reservation Reelism not only to scholars of Native American history and film but also to all critics interested in portrayals of race in American popular culture.andquot;andmdash;Scott D. Emmert, Western American Literature
Review
"Reservation Reelism is a very important read for anyone interested in Film Studies, Native American Studies, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies."and#8212;Jenell Navarro, Taylor and Francis Online
Review
"Reservation Reelism is a focused and innovative study and will be crucial reading for anyone working in Indigenous film and media studies."and#8212;Joanna Hearne, Studies in American Indian Literature
Review
"This is the work of a mature, well-informed scholar very much at the top of his game."—James F. Scott, Western American Literature
Synopsis
In this deeply engaging account Michelle H. Raheja offers the first book-length study of the Indigenous actors, directors, and spectators who helped shape Hollywoodand#8217;s representation of Indigenous peoples. Since the era of silent films, Hollywood movies and visual culture generally have provided the primary representational field on which Indigenous images have been displayed to non-Native audiences. These films have been highly influential in shaping perceptions of Indigenous peoples as, for example, a dying race or as inherently unable or unwilling to adapt to change. However, films with Indigenous plots and subplots also signify at least some degree of Native presence in a culture that largely defines Native peoples as absent or separate.and#160;Native actors, directors, and spectators have had a part in creating these cinematic representations and have thus complicated the dominant, and usually negative, messages about Native peoples thatand#160;films portray. In Reservation Reelism Raheja examines the history of these Native actors, directors, and spectators,and#160;reveals their contributions, and attempts to create positive representations in film that reflect the complex and vibrant experiences of Native peoples and communities.
About the Author
Neil Campbell is professor of American studies and senior research fellow at the University of Derby, England. He is the author of
The Rhizomatic West: Representing the West in the Global, Media Age (Nebraska, 2008) and the editor of, most recently,
Photocinema: The Creative Edges of Photography and Film.