Synopses & Reviews
From the 1890s onward, Edward S. Curtis took thousands of photographs of Native Americans all over the West. These were published (1907-1930) in twenty volumes of illustrated text and twenty portfolios of photographs; the project was supported by Theodore Roosevelt and funded in part by J. Pierpont Morgan, and spawned exhibitions, postcards, magazine articles, lecture series, a "musicale," and the very first narrative documentary film. Neither a eulogy to Curtis' achievement nor a debunking of it, this book is an honest study of the project as a collective whole.
Review
"In this outstanding new volume, [Gidley] illuminates the multi-faceted nature of the photographer's enterprise, reprints original documents relating to the project, analyzes with insight some of the best known images and accompanying texts, and thereby places Curtis's opus within its complex historical context." Great Plains Quarterly"Gidley gives readers a succinct explanation of the subject of Curtis's prolific photography....Recommended for public and academic libraries." Library Journal"Gidley's descriptions of the process of the enterprise is fascinating; his analysis of the ideological, aesthetic, economic, and anthropological underpinnings is a model of development; and his assessment of the Curtis legacy is convincing. Strongly recommended for undergraduate libraries." Choice"The strength of Gidley's work lies not only in the clarity and appeal of his prose but also in his particular approach to a difficult subject. His complex and engaging study demonstrates the value of postmodern theory while avoiding its pitfalls." Melinda Marie Jetteé, Pacific Northwest Quarterly"...Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated is worth not only reading but keeping on the shelf as an important contribution to the study of white representations of Native American culture and Native American defiance thereto." Paola Gemme, American Studies in Europe"It can be read as biography, social and intellectual history, and cultural criticism. It is a splendid addition to every American Studies library." American Studies International"Gidley's readings of the images, however, are insightful, clear, and admirably restrained." Philip J. Deloria, Pacific Historical Review"...Gidley connects..." Edward J. Gallagher, American Indian Quarterly"In this outstanding new volume, he illuminates the multi-faceted nature of the photographer's enterprise, reprints original documents relating to the project, analyzes with insight some of the best known images and accompanying texts, and thereby places Curtis's opus within its complex historical context." Martha H. Kennedy, Great Plains Quarterly"Edward S. CUrits and The North American Indian, Incorporated will quickly establish itself as an indispensable source for anyone with an interest in intercultural American literature." European Journal of American Culture
Synopsis
A study of the literary influence of Edward Curtis's multi-volume collections of Native American photographs.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [285]-319) and index.
About the Author
Mick Gidley is Emeritus Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Leeds. He has been awarded fellowships by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study and the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council. In 2007 he was awarded the Arthur Miller Prize for an essay on Richard Avedon published in the final issue of the annual Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and in 2009 he was made a lifetime Honorary Fellow of the British Association for American Studies. His books include With One Sky Above Us: Life on an Indian Reservation at the Turn of the Century (1979 and 1985), Kopet: A Documentary Narrative of Chief Joseph's Last Years (1981 and 1983) and Photography and the USA (2011). As well as many essays on literary and cultural history, he has edited or co-edited such works as Views of American Landscapes (Cambridge University Press, 1989 and 2007), Modern American Culture: An Introduction (1992 and 1995), American Photographs in Europe (1994), Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian Project in the Field (2003 and 2010) and Writing with Light: Words and Photographs in American Texts (2010). He is currently completing E. O. Hoppé at Large: Photographing the Modern World.
Table of Contents
Part I. Introductory: 1. A national undertaking; Part II. Co-ordinates for a Project: 2. Cracker Jack pictures; 3. Trading with the Indians; 4. Hustling the eminent; 5. Diffident ethnology; Part III. Indians Incorporated: 6. Adventure in the field; 7. 'The vanishing race' in sight and sound; 8. Bronze in action; 9. Representing the Indian.