Final Project Topic


Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

The topic I have chosen for my final project revolves around the Europeanisation of Pocahontas. I have always been intrigued by her life as well as the fictional versions surrounding her legacy. While the majority of people are familiar with Disney’s image of Pocahontas, I thought it would an interesting opportunity to do research on the actual person herself. The myths that followed her have led to several reimagined stories of her life, and I intend to study a more accurate picture of her experiences. She was indeed part of a cultural interaction between indigenous people and Europeans in North America. Her connections with the Jamestown settlement would make a fascinating study in white and indigenous relations, as well as conflicts between the two groups. What has seldom been mentioned in romanticized portrayals of Pocahontas’ life is that she went through Europeanisation. She adopted European dress and beliefs, actions that were deemed proper by whites. I feel it is important to acknowledge that Pocahontas was not a kind of mythical figure, but an actual, living person. Colonization, strained relations, and the enforcing of European ideals were both part of her history and Atlantic history as well. She witnessed firsthand the impact of colonization in an Atlantic space and in her own life. Studying Pocahontas’ life would lead to more understanding of her place in history, albeit an accurate one. She was not a singing princess searching for romance as depicted in the Disney movie; she was a woman who experienced dramatic changes and shifts in the Atlantic.

…read more