Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative

by Robert S. Tilton

From the time of its first appearance, the story of Pocahontas has provided the terms of a flexible discourse that has been put to multiple, and at times contradictory, uses. Centering around her legendary rescue of John Smith from the brink of execution and her subsequent marriage to a white Jamestown colonist, the Pocahontas convention became a source of national debate over such broad issues as miscegenation, racial conflict, and colonial expansion. At the same time, Pocahontas became the most frequently and variously portrayed female figure in antebellum literature. Robert S. Tilton draws upon the rich tradition of Pocahontas material to examine why her half-historic, half-legendary narrative so engaged the imaginations of Americans from the earliest days of the colonies through the conclusion of the Civil War. Drawing upon a wide variety of primary materials, Tilton reflects on the ways in which the Pocahontas myth was exploded, exploited, and ultimately made to rationalise dangerous preconceptions about the native American tradition.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 1994

Reviews

[Bungaku Shoujo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a ‘before the storm’ book in several respects: it predates the then in-production Disney movie (referred to only in an endnote correctly predicting that it would become the most well-known version of the story), and it predates the publication of Linwood Custalow’s alleged oral history. This may be odd or disappointing to some, but anybody interested in seeing the Disney movie get pilloried can go on the Internet and find an abundance of options to choose from. The fact that a book like this could get written pre-Disney shows that the Mouse did not invent the ‘Pocahontas myth’.

When a modern person thinks of ‘the Pocahontas myth’, they probably think of her saving and falling in love with John Smith, but as Tilton shows, what was considered important in Pocahontas’ life varied over time. There are, however, some continuities in the various Pocahontas myths, namely that she was a ‘good Indian’ who benefited white people. Most of these representations of Pocahontas, crucial to formulations of Anglo-American identity, have rather unfortunate implications, but sometimes she is invoked for laudable causes– in abolitionist pamphlets, for instance. Attitudes taken towards her are generally very positive, but some critics of her do emerge, usually for political reasons. Tilton also shows how some writers recognized that the myth was in fact a myth and tried to fight against it, usually futilely.

The time period examined in this book is quite narrow, mostly the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a brief postscript about the twentieth century. It’s possible that this period was chosen because Tilton found it particularly important for American nationalism, but I found it a bit anticlimactic and would have liked to see explored in depth how events like first and second wave feminism and the civil rights movements impacted perceptions of Pocahontas, especially from the perspective of Native Americans. Especially interesting to me is that, in the twenty-first century, fiction writers seem to have fallen out of love with Pocahontas: as far as I’m aware, the last theatrical movie about her is from 2007. This in no way diminishes the book, but her narrative never fully evolved in the time Tilton focused on: though one could argue that, for as long as America exists, her narrative never will ‘fully’ evolve. Definitely makes you want a second edition or a newer project, though.

Overall, this is a very enlightening book that will no doubt save you from having to read many terrible seeming nineteenth century romance novels. It is also, in many ways, a depressing book. Depressing, because it shows how the ‘real’ Pocahontas is lost to us forever, depersonalized into a symbol and appropriated by those who speak for her to address their own concerns.

[Matthew William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good history. A quintessential intellectual history foundational selection.