This article describes linguistic features used to depict fictional
American Indian speech, a style referred to as “Hollywood Injun
English,” found in movies, on television, and in some literature
(the focus is on the film and television varieties). Grammatically, it
draws on a range of nonstandard features similar to those found in
“foreigner talk” and “baby talk,” as well a
formalized, ornate variety of English; all these features are used to
project or evoke certain characteristics historically associated with
“the White Man's Indian.” The article also exemplifies
some ways in which these linguistic features are deployed in relation to
particular characteristics stereotypically associated with American
Indians, and shows how the correspondence between nonstandard, dysfluent
speech forms and particular pejorative aspects of the fictional Indian
characters subtly reproduce Native American otherness in contemporary
popular American culture.I would like to
thank the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the University of Michigan for
their support. This manuscript has also benefited from the following
individuals' comments and suggestions: Gerald Carr, Eve Danziger,
Philip Deloria, Joseph Gone, Jane Hill, Judith Irvine, Webb Keane, William
Leap, Bruce Mannheim, and the anonymous reviewer. For their time and
effort, I am truly grateful. All errors are my own.