Choice 评论

One of the clearest points emerging from this analysis of Native American and Western cultural identities is the understanding that communally derived identity underpins the aesthetic of indigenous artists' production and differs radically from the individualist ethos of the West. Leuthold (Syracuse Univ.) folds a number of very interesting approaches into this study--anthropology, film studies, art criticism, and American Indian--but ultimately focuses on aesthetics. Trying to serve so many masters, Leuthold has difficulty satisfying any. This seems to be a book in search of an audience. Philosophers approaching the text will be familiar with most of his discussion of aesthetics; scholars of Native America will be familiar with the tribal background. The first third of the book provides the theoretical bases for Leuthold's discussion, so the examination of primary texts almost seems secondary; the chapter on Native identity and the media is regretfully brief. However, the volume contains a useful discussion of several well-known documentaries--In the White Man's Image and Surviving Columbus--and of the relationship between performance and identity. One of the first serious explorations of this terrain, this noteworthy book points to the difficulty in ethnic studies of weaving together the many disciplines necessary to examine a subject holistically. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. Tharp; University of Wisconsin Colleges