Captive Selves, Captivating Others: The Politics And Poetics Of Colonial American Captivity Narratives

by Pauline Turner Strong

This book reexamines the Anglo-American literary genre known as the “Indian captivity narrative” in the context of the complex historical practice of captivity across cultural borders in colonial North America. This detailed and nuanced study of the relationship between practice and representation on the one hand and identity and alterity on the other is an important contribution to cultural studies, American studies, Native American studies, women's studies, and historical anthropology.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Pauline Turner Strong is an anthropologist and historian interested in the construction of identity and otherness. Most of her writing focuses on the representation of American Indians in American culture and history. She is also interested in the role of the humanities in American public life. She studied philosophy at Colorado College, and anthropology at the University of Chicago. She lives in Austin, Texas, where she teaches at the University of Texas.