Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

School

Communication

Committee Chair

Christopher Campbell

Committee Chair Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 2

Phillip Gentile

Committee Member 2 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 3

Tammy Greer

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Cheryl Jenkins

Committee Member 4 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 5

Fei Xue

Committee Member 5 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Abstract

For hundreds of years, Native Americans have been characters in American media. For most of those years, whites determined the way in which Native Americans were represented. First in print, radio, silent movies and later talkies and television, representations of Native Americans have included being uneducated sidekicks, savages, noble savages seeking to steal white women, drunken idiots, or hilarious jesters all for the entertainment of viewers. This troublesome history of negative depictions of Native Americans is the reason this research is directed at the films by Native American writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie. This research is a qualitative analysis of two of Alexie's films striving to analyze his work as a Native American filmmaker in relation to themes and representations found in films made by non-Natives depicting Native American characters and culture

ORCID ID

0000-0002-9828-8334

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