American Cultural History Lecture Flashcards
1
Q
Anthropocene
A
- New suggested geological period succeeding the Holocene (our period since the glacial period)
- Marking the influence of human beings on geology
–> Decrease in biodiversity, climate change, pollution, … - Defined in the 1980s & 2000s
2
Q
Culture (analytic definition)
A
- All material & symbolic practices of a society, which server as systems of orientation or interpretation –> culture is organized in discourses
3
Q
American Exceptionalism
A
- Idea that America is different from ALL other states
- Because of a specific/ divine mission in world history
- It is unique, exceptional & “the greatest country in the world”
4
Q
American Studies
A
- Mixture of historical & literary scholarship –> Including urban studies & media studies
- Especially interests in structures of social differentiation –> race, class, gender, ability, age, etc.
5
Q
Trickster
A
- Mythological figure in indigenous American cultures (often called “Coyote”)
- Transformer, boundary crosser
- both good & bad, male & female
- Friend & teacher for human beings –> Stole fire from the gods
6
Q
Conquest according to Stuart Hall
A
- Act of taking possession goes along with idealization or vilification of indigenous population
- through projection & imposition of European categories & failure to respect difference
7
Q
Invisible Bullets
A
- indigenous people believed that they were killed by white people through “invisible bullets”
–> died from diseases (e.g. smallpox) which Europeans brought to America
8
Q
City upon a Hill
A
- phrase from the bible John Winthrop used phrase to tell puritans what he expected of them
- be a shining example of Christianity& perfection for the whole world
- might be the origin of American Exceptionalism
9
Q
Middle passage
A
- Atlantic slave tribe –> forced voyage of enslaved Africans
- One leg of the triangular trade
10
Q
Predestination/Providence
A
- Providence –> book of history (according to the Puritans)
- All events (past or future) pre-determined by divine will
–> all human actions, fates & ideas foretold/predestined
11
Q
King Philip’s War/Metacomet’s War
A
- Colonial/Intercultural War between white population of New England (settler colonists) & Wapanoag Nation with their sachem (chief Metacom)
–> Killed 40% of indigenous population in New England & prisoners sold into slavery - Power of indigenous nation was broken
12
Q
American Enlightenment (age of reason)
A
- period that led up to American Revolution
- Characterized by writings from John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin etc.
–> Culminated in the declaration of independence & the constitution of the Bill of rights
13
Q
Checks and Balances
A
- Separation of powers (executive, legislative, judiciary) through specific institutions (presidency, congress, the courts)
14
Q
Federal Style in Architecture
A
- Palladian style of architecture (imitations of Greek & Roman architecture)
- Imported from Europe to Am. by Thomas Jefferson –> serve as a symbol for the new republic
- Suggests learning, democracy, civilization & empire, whiteness & elitism
15
Q
Ante-bellum Reform Movements
A
- Variety of reform movements –> At the end of early republic, during Ante-Bellum era
–> abolitionism, temperance, Sunday School movement, penitentiary reform, dietary reform, etc.
16
Q
Abolitionism
A
movement to end slavery & liberate enslaved people
17
Q
Temperance
A
promoting moderation & complete abstinence from alcohol consumption
18
Q
Nativism
A
- anti-immigration movement in the 1840s & 1850s (Know Nothing Movement, American Party)
- was anti-Catholic, anti-Irish, anti-German –> wanted to reserve America for those born in Am.
19
Q
Cult of True Womanhood
A
- cult of domesticity –> new image of women as the angel in the house
–> characterized by the four cardinal virtues of domesticity, purity, piety & submissiveness
20
Q
Tocqueville’s America
A
- Alexis de Tocqueville (French noblemen) –> travelled through America in the 1830s
- wrote “Democracy in America” –> described the American character, notably individualism, restlessness, materialism, tyranny of the majority, etc.
21
Q
Manifest Destiny
A
- idea (in the 1830s), that divine mission of the US is to overspread the entire American continent, because of its “superior” democratic institutions
–> form of exceptionalism & beginning of American Imperialism
22
Q
Indian Removal
A
- policy of the US against indigenous nations (Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Creek)
–> evicted in the 1830s to the areas west of the Mississippi (forced displacement) - policy of ethnic cleansing –> resulted in thousands of deaths –> Trail of Tears (1830/31)
23
Q
Self-reliance
A
- made famous by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- concept –> time of individuals & America to leave behind imitation (of European ideas)
- rely on one’s own true self –> part of transcendentalist & romantic discourse of self-improvement
24
Q
Conservation
A
- interest in protection & preservation/ restoration of natural environments & ecological communities –> came with industrialization & romanticism
- Theodore Roosevelt called the conservationist president (1901-09)
–> saved Yellowstone &created US forest service
–> John Muir (ecologist & philosopher) helped establish Yosemite & Sequoia
25
Q
Fugitive Slave Law
A
- Law –> Fugitive slaves from the South have to be returned by the north
- Part of the compromise of 1850 between north & south –> deepened the tensions between N&S
–> Let (among other things) to Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (abolitionist novel)
26
Q
Minstrel Show
A
- Entertainment show in the 1830s –> skits, variety acts, dancing & music performed by white people in blackface
–> made fun of black people & affirmed stereotypes about African Americans
27
Q
American Civil War (1861-1865)
A
- civil war between the North & the South –> over the dispute over slavery
- end of the southern stated slave system
28
Q
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A
- racist supreme court decision (1896) –> valid until 1954
–> segregation in the South (Jim Crow laws) upheld though the formula “separate but equal”
29
Q
Jim Crow laws
A
- local laws of the South that enforced racial segregation
- introduced in late 19th & early 20th century –> remained in force until 1965
30
Q
Indian Appropriation Acts
A
- several acts (1851,71,…) –> members of indigenous nations were moved to reservations in the West
- from 1871 on Indian reives were not recognized as independent nations
–> indigenous people were treated as individuals & “wards” of the federal government
31
Q
Turner Thesis
A
- Frederick Jackson Turner suggested in 1893 that the American Character & American democratic sentiment were formed through frontier between civilization & wilderness
–> Established the myth of the West (idealized) & rugged individualist
–> Largely rejected today
32
Q
Realism
A
- Western art movement (started in France, 1850s) –> reaction to romanticism & sentimentalism
- Rejected the demand for morality (in the arts) & turned with vengeance to mundane topics (e.g. business, science, technology, social question & modern life problems
33
Q
Gilded Age
A
- Era of big business in America in the post-bellum time (term coined by Mark Twain)
–> Characterized by materialism, corruption, exploitation & pro-business ideology
34
Q
Horatio Alger
A
- Writer of books for boys in the 1870s, 80s & 90sn –> invented the rags-to-riches formula
–> Hard working, energetic & morally good boys will rise in society & become “somebody”
–> Myth of the self-made man
35
Q
Naturalism
A
- Later version of realism (1890s+) explored philosophy of determinism & social Darwinism
–> Certain people become powerful in society because they’re innately better
–> Survival of the fittest, natural selection, struggle for survival & determination by strong forces
36
Q
Stream of Thought
A
- William James’s description of human consciousness
–> Describes cognition as a “stream of thought, of consciousness, of subjective life”
–> All experiences take place within this stream & is the only know reality for the individual
–> “absolute insulation” (within the individual) & “irreducible pluralism” of sense impressions
37
Q
Modernism
A
- Name for various cultural movements in the west (Europe, USA, Latin America)
–> Reaction to sense of social breakdown, alienation, acceleration& automation of modern life
–> Against ordered ideas of Victorianism, Realism & tradition
–> e.g. Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, etc
38
Q
Armory Show
A
- art exhibition in NY in 1913 –> introduced modernist art to America
–> Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, Gaugin, etc.
39
Q
Film Noir
A
- Modernist American cinema in the late 1930s & 1940s –> working with low key lighting (noir)
- Reacts to modern experiences of urbanization, rise of suburbia, changes in manners & values, alienation, transformation of gender roles, middle class life & doubts about the future
40
Q
Harlem Renaissance
A
- Lively & multifaced cultural movement centred in Harlem, NY
–> produced African-American art (literature, paintings, photography, film & music - characterized by pride, self-assertion –> but haunted by the trope of “primitivism
41
Q
Popular Culture
A
- popular forms of entertainment –> exploited by the culture industry since the end of 19th century
- characterized by a belief in the common man, egalitarianism, liberalism, moral community & pragmatic problem solving
42
Q
Populism
A
- agrarian protest movement after the Civil War –> calling for the support of the “common man”
- cheaper money, nationalization of railroads, graduated income tax, direct election of senators
- partially haunted by whit supremacy
43
Q
Progressivism
A
- reform movement at the end of the 19th century
–> in reaction to the industrialization & the problem of the Gilded Age - called for government activities against corruption & social misery & for more efficiency in all areas of society
44
Q
WPA Photography
A
- documentary photography sponsored by the Roosevelt Administration
–> in the new deal though the Works Progress Administration - e.g. Lange’s “Migrant Mother”, works by Walter Evans
45
Q
Social Realism
A
- a return to realist techniques within modernist literature –> to explore questions of poverty, history, middle class life etc.
- e.g. Steinbeck, Lewins, Faulkner
46
Q
Civil Rights Movement
A
- African American protest movement led by Martin Luther Kink & others
- Insisted in non-violent action & civil disobedience, organized demonstrations, boycotts, sit-ins & legal interventions
47
Q
Counterculture
A
- Youth movement in the 1960s –> inspired by civil rights movement
- Opposing militarism (Vietnam), technocracy, bureaucracy & conformism
- Influenced by philosophy, psychoanalysis & Buddhism
48
Q
Black Panther Party
A
- Militant African American Organization, founded in Oakland, CA –> inspired by Malcom X & Marxism
- Patrolled with arms, organized community social programs
- Discredited & destroyed by the FBI
49
Q
Postmodernism
A
- International art movement –> embraces eclecticism, historical nostalgia, play, paradox, dissonance
- themes: identity, history, consumer culture, loss of orientation & disbelief in grand narratives
50
Q
Grand Narratives (meta narratives)
A
- belief systems –> claim to explain the course of history & necessities of the future in a comprehensive & normative way (Liberalism, Marxism, Christianity, Judaism, the Islam,…)
51
Q
Gender Performance
A
- idea that gender (socially sanctioned masculine or feminine behaviour) does not “naturally” follow biological sex, but in fact a publicly supported or suppressed performance
–> has a normalizing consequence
52
Q
Orientalism
A
- imitation/ depiction of middle eastern, south Asian & East Asian cultures by writers/painters, etc. from the West
- East depicted as “the other” (othering) & as underdeveloped, barbaric, exotic, wild, etc.
–> With a patronizing point of view
53
Q
Hybridity
A
- Suggestion that cultural identities are not marked by essential/natural qualities, but by blends, mixtures, appropriations & imitations of diverse elements
- on account of various colonialisms & neo-colonialisms (including globalization)
54
Q
Post/Neo-colonialism
A
- Theoretical orientation which explores the consequences of colonializations, de-colonializations & (capitalist, neo-liberal) neo-colonializations
- The consequences are present in questions of identities (hybridity, nostalgia), observations (orientalism, colonial gaze), migration (diasporas, borderlands) & forms of power (subalternity, hegemony, othering)
