An ornament and a promise: Discourses on culture in nineteenth-century America.
Item
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Title
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An ornament and a promise: Discourses on culture in nineteenth-century America.
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Identifier
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AAI3325394
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identifier
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3325394
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Creator
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Swihart, Ryan T. A.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Martin J. Burke
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, United States | Literature, American | Art History
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Abstract
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This work is a study of discourse in the United States on cultural matters during the nineteenth century. It identifies three main categories of discourse that characterized conversations about culture from the antebellum period through the end of the century. Chapter one investigates the use of moral language and metaphor in writings on culture and the tensions between increasing availability of art and literature to the public and increasing concern over who should be reading what toward what ends. Chapter two is a discussion of how the building of a "cultural infrastructure" in the United States was accompanied by efforts to position American civilization historically and to secure international prestige for American cultural achievements through museums, libraries and international fairs. Chapter three focuses on the intersection of culture with political and social issues, including censorship, social cohesion and the relationship of intellectual culture to traditional religion. Chapter four explores several instances of reaction in the late nineteenth century by American critics against what were seen as harmful trends in modernist art and literature which emanated from Europe.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
