Representing Others
White Views of Indigenous Peoples

Representing Others examines a diverse range of cultural forms in which white novelists, sculptors, diarists, photographers, ethnographers, travel writers and filmmakers have depicted Native American, African, Pacific and Australian Aboriginal peoples. As they were seen by incoming whites who were themselves strangers to the land, they most often appeared incomprehensible, threatening, 'Other'.

The analyses in this book go beyond simply asking questions about the 'accuracy' or otherwise of a work's representation of the culture under discussion. Although the seven authors conform to no single position and adopt a variety of critical approaches, they share a common concern. These essays all propose that if we are to use our own terms to speak of another culture, we must become aware of the problems involved in the act of representation itself.

Contributions by
Anthony Fothergill, Mick Gidley, Richard Maltby, Peter Quartermaine, Stephanie Smiles, Ronald Tamplin and Tim Youngs

Contents: A native American in stone, Stephanie Smiles; the medical officer's diary, Tim Youngs; representing others, of Conrad, cannibals and kin, Anthony Fothergill; noble men and noble savages, Ron Tamplin; Johannes Lintd - photographer of Australia and New Guinea, Peter Quartermaine; Edward S. Curtis' Indian photographs - a national enterprise, Mick Gidley; John Ford and the Indians, or, Tom Doniphon's history lesson, Richard Maltby.

Mick Gidley is Professor of American Literature at the University of Leeds