Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1991
Abstract
Often a piece of scholarly literature is intriguing not because it is completely right but because it is somewhat wrongheaded. Such is the case with H. David Brumble's historical survey of American Indian autobiography. This is not to imply that Brumble errs in the details of his short history of Indian autobiography. Nor is it to say that he misconceives most of his generalizations on the subject. As an Indian or part Indian myself, I am repeatedly chastened by the formidable expertise displayed by non-Indians like Brumble who write on Native American culture. The argument of Brumble's informative book is that, in its brief recorded history, American Indian autobiography recapitulates "the history of Western [or European] autobiography" (5). Indeed, this is a fascinating idea, but, as Brumble develops it, he beclouds his thesis with issues that betray his Romantic assumptions about Indian storytelling and art.
Comments
Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 11:3 (Summer 1991). Copyright © 1991 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.