Freeze Frame: Alaska Eskimos in the Movies [Hardcover]

Ann Fienup-Riordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

"Freeze Frame" takes a penetrating, often humorous, look at how Eskimos have been portrayed in nearly a century of film, from the pioneering documentaries of missionaries and Arctic explorers to Eskimo Pie commercials of the 1990s. Some of these works are serious attempts to depict a culture; others are unabashed entertainment, featuring papier mache igloos and zebra-skin parkas. Even film-makers who sought authenticity were likely to build igloos in villages that had never seen one, and to hire non-Native actors to portray the Eskimo principals. The groundbreaking film, "Nanook of the North", released in 1922, solidified the popular impression of Eskimos and set the precedent for dozens of ethnographic docudramas to follow. "Freeze Frame" documents the ideas that motivate and lie behind this abundant generation of images. The first study to look at the popular image of Alaska Eskimos, it makes an important contribution to our understanding of Native American stereotyping. Anthropologist, Ann Fienup-Riordan is the author of numerous books on the peoples of Alaska, including "The Living Tradition of Yupik Masks: Agayuliyararput, Our Way of Making Prayer".

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the real joys of this book is the rich assortment of movie stills, lobby cards, posters, and other film paraphernalia which the author has collected. These marvelous illustrations help make this stimulating discussion of Alaskan popular culture a volume to treasure."--Terrence Cole, Alaska History "According to this ... completely fascinating book, much of what Hollywood has shown the rest of the world about Alaska Eskimos is on the far side of accurate."--Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times "Fienup-Riordan tries to explain why Westerners are so bent on seeing Native cultures in certain ways. She offers up so many fascinating details about the real Native world that you can't help but conclude that reality is almost always more interesting."--Anchorage Daily News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Anthropologist Ann Fienup-Riordan is the author of numerous books on the peoples of Alaska, including The Living Tradition of Yupik Masks: Agayuliyararput, Our Way of Making Prayer. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; First edition. edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295973978
• ISBN-13: 978-0295973975
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,909,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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