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“ I n e f f e c t u a l C h a s e ” : I n d i a n s , P r a i r i e s , B u f f a l o , a n d t h e Q u e s t f o r t h e A u t h e n t i c W e s t i n W a s h i n g t o n I r v i n g ’s A To u r o n t h e Pr a ir ie s M a r k K . B u r n s C e r ta in place s try to te ll us s o m e thing , or h a ve s aid s o m e th in g we s ho uld n o t ha ve mis se d, or are a bo ut to say s o m e thing . — Jorge Luis Borges, “T he W a ll and the Bo o k” T he dis a ppointm e nt I mus t now re gis te r... s hould in n o wise reflect o n the lyrical, e pic, tragic b ut ne ve r A r c a d ia n A m e r ic a n wilds. — V la d im ir N a bo ko v, L o lita T h e c r ite r io n o f a u th e n tic ity in e v ita b ly produce s dre am s o f o rig ins u n s u llie d by h is to r ic a l e x pe rie nce ^] — Ro be r t v o n Hallbe r g, “Poetry, P olitics , a n d Inte lle c tua ls ” In a 1991 N e w Y ork T im e s B o o k Re v ie w essay w r itte n afte r the “unm a s k­ in g ” o f th e s uppos e d N a tiv e A m e r ic a n a u th o r L ittle T ree, H e nry Louis Ga te s addresses th e c o m p lic a te d issue o f “a u th e n tic ” ra c ia l id e ntity . H e argues th a t a lth o u g h th e s ocial id e n titie s o f write rs d o m atte r, the re is ne ve r a r e la tio n o f fix e d d e te r m in is m be tw e e n a w rite r a n d his or he r r a c ia l a n d c u ltu r a l ba c kg ro und a nd thus , s urpris ingly, th a t “like it or n o t, a ll w rite rs are ‘c u ltu r a l im pe rs onators .’” H e c onc lude s by a p p ly ing th e H o lly w o o d produc e r S a m ue l G o ld w y n ’s the ory o f c in e m a tic s inc e rity to w h a t he calls th e “ve xe d c o nc e p t o f a u th e n tic ity ,” w r itin g th a t “a u th e n ­ tic ity re m a ins e s s e ntial” be caus e “o nc e you c a n fake th a t, y o u’ve g ot it m a de ” (4 4 6 ). W h e n W a s h in g to n Ir v in g fin a lly s aile d bac k to th e U n ite d State s in th e s pring o f 1832 afte...

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