Abstract
dc:description.abstract<p>The author investigates how narratives are constructed through visual culture to better understand her own history. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show acts as a case study demonstrating how “history” is often a narrative established by those in power. These narratives often essentialize their subjects, leading to erasure and exclusion. Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley are used as examples of figures that have become caricatures in service to a greater narrative about the American West. This paper argues for the inefficacy of considering any one narrative as “history” instead recommending a close reading of many different narratives. Three different Western figures, all associated with Buffalo Bill’s West Show, are introduced and analyzed. The author argues that much of the nuance of history is lost when we favor only the narratives found in popular culture.</p>
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Thesis
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Graduate School of Art
- Year dc:date.available
- 2025
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Hawkes, Sarah A
Subjects
dc:subject × 10Rights
- Language dc:language
- English
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Repository record dc:identifier
- https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/37
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:mfa_illustration-1046