Dr. Logan structured our course so that each of the ten students presents a text to the rest of the class in a 30-45 minute presentation; we are also responsible for the creation of a handout to guide and focus our discussion of the selected text. Last night’s class was on The Female American, attributed to Unca Eliza Winkfield. Spencer was our presenter, and on the handout, he included an art deco image of Pocahontas. In The Female American, Unca Eliza’s Native American mother is a Pocahontas figure, saving her future husband from death at the hands of her tribe, of which her father is king. Unca Eliza, a bi-racial character, frequently references her skill with a bow and arrow, which makes the selected image particularly suitable.
[click for a larger view]
Part of our assignment included browsing through the images in Edward J. Gallagher’s Pocahontas Images gallery to acquaint ourselves with the ways in which the persona and image of Pocahontas has been appropriated by cultures throughout time. There is an astounding amount of images available on the site, and apparently, Pocahontas can, with the stroke of an artist’s paintbrush or pen, transform from a Native American woman into a hybrid into a white woman.
So, during our class discussion (or was it last week’s discussion? Oh old age, you are wrecking havoc on my memory), the subject of the Disney princesses came up, and Dr. Logan asked us, “Do any of them end their story not married?” As we sat there thinking, we realized – no, all of the princesses, except Pocahontas, end up married. However, even Pocahontas cannot escape the fate of a Disney tale, and ends up married in the sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (thanks to Jen for saving the day with this trivia tidbit).
The next day, I remembered I had a link to a post about Disney Princesses on my computer, so I pulled it up. It’s called "A Different Way to Look at Disney Princesses" by Monika Bartyzel. Here is a quote from the article:
When you boil it down to the basics, the story is enough to make anyone queasy. Snow White's hormones almost kill her, Aurora is married off in the crib for politics and saved years later with a kiss (or sex and slavery when Anne Rice has her say), Jasmine is a pretty girl saved by a street rat, Ariel gets to look pretty and say nothing, Belle works her sexuality, and Cinderella is saved because of her beauty.
[click for a larger image]
You’ll notice that there is no mention of Pocahontas in the article, and that’s because for a looooong time, Pocahontas was excluded from the apparently exclusive club of white Disney Princesses. And let’s be honest – Jasmine looks more white than Arabic, so don’t try to use her as an example. I don’t know when they actually added her, but the Disney Princesses now includes Snow White, Pocahontas, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Ariel, Tiana, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle and Mulan, as seen on their website. I don’t know about you all, but I’m ready for a Disney Princess to kick some ass, save the day, and stay SINGLE. Or, be a lesbian (insert fake gasp here). Well, one can hope, right?
Building off these images of Pocahontas, I want to show you a more modern conception of Pocahontas. I found this artist about a year or so ago and immediately forwarded it to my sister, who just about died (but in a good way).
[click for a larger image]
The artwork is by ~jeftoon01 and is from his DeviantArt gallery. He has drawn a whole series of the Disney Princesses called Twisted Princess, and it’s pretty amazing. The artist also provides a short little story to go along with his art. Here is the story behind Twisted Pocahontas.
Here's my latest Twisted Princess! This is what Pocahontas would become if John Smith was killed by Governor Ratcliffe. In a fit of rage, she kills the Governor to avenge John, but she isn't satisfied. So she goes on a killing spree, ending the life of any and all settlers but it doesn't fix her broken heart. I really like this picture. These are definitely getting a lot darker. Hope you guys like.
Oh yeah, I should probably explain why I gave her armor. Well, in the movie when the settlers are gearing up to fight Pocahontas's tribe, Governor Ratcliffe actually puts on a full suit of black armor. In my version, after Pocahontas kills the Governor she takes his armor...so yeah...I'm still up in the air on it but it looks cool.
...also, I thought I would mention that Pocahontas used Flit the hummingbird's feathers to decorate her spear and belt. It's kind of hard to tell with the lighting.
What do you all think? Crazy? Dark? Twisted? Cool? I think it’s fascinating. Do you think these re-imaginings of Pocahontas, and the other princesses, is another example of looking for a usable past? Or is it just artistic license at work? Fan art and fiction about Pocahontas – do you think it’ll ever get added to Edward J. Gallagher’s Pocahontas Archive?
And speaking of the archive, can I just say that The Pocahontas Archive is an absolutely amazing example of digital humanities? It includes not just literary texts, but also images, an extensive bibliography, essays, approaches to teaching Pocahontas, links, and a historical section that includes a timeline, a historical record based on first-generation records, Pocahontas’s nicknames, a debunking of the Pocahontas-Smith connection, and the story of Pocahontas from the Mattaponi (hurray for interdisciplinary cooperation!). The historical, cultural, and societal context that one needs in order to fully understand Pocahontas is provided on the site. As a budding early American literature scholar, I (and my classmates) are increasingly aware of the need, no, the necessity for these contexts. You can’t study early American literature without knowing history, and this site offers that information.
The site provides students, instructors, and other visitors with an incredibly rich experience through the adaptation and manipulation of technology. The site is easily navigated, and uniform in design and appearance. Information is contained within the site itself for easy reference (the essays are all there, you don’t have to go off-site). Electronic versions of the literary texts, when available, are linked to GoogleBooks, a free and widely accessible and therefore democratic option. This opens the research to those beyond the academic world; not everyone has access to MLA International Bibliography, America: History & Life, JSTOR, WorldCat, etc. There is a simple and easy way to make the information within the site export friendly (for use in teaching, presentations, etc). – just add downloadable PDF files. I would assign the creation of these PDF files to graduate students as part of a digital humanities/literature course. Other than that, I love the site.
Works Cited:
Bartyzel, Monika. "A Different Way to Look at Disney Princesses." Cinematical. 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://blog.moviefone.com/2009/10/28/a-different-way-to-look-at-disney-princesses/>.
Disney. "Princess | Disney Princess." Disney | Official Home Page for All Things Disney. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://disney.go.com/princess/#/home/>.
~jeftoon01. "Twisted Princess" ~jeftoon01 on Deviant Art. 08 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://jeftoon01.deviantart.com/gallery/#Twisted-Princess>.
~jeftoon01. "Twisted Princess: Pocahontas." ~jeftoon01 on Deviant Art. 08 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://jeftoon01.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1ylntf>.
The Pocahontas Archive. Ed. Edward J. Gallagher. Lehigh University. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/pocahontas/index.php>.
No comments:
Post a Comment