Hope and Fear: Technology as Substance and Means for Discourses of American Identity

Session Submission Type: Paper Session

Abstract

The discourse of technology in American life has been a source of both stability and change, with respect to our societal self-image, our assertion of a uniquely American identity, and our core values. Such discourse has characteristically been informed by visual media, itself often a source of illumination as well as controversy. This panel traces key moments in this discourse, beginning in the nineteenth century with the fine arts’ engagement with technological values and journalism’s insertion into popular culture using the new technology of photography, to the way Depression-era photojournalists used their technological tools to depict American life as a demonstration of new social values in action.

Sub Unit

• American Studies Division

Chair

• Peggy Bowers, Clemson University

Individual Presentations

• Camera as social commentary: Depression era photojournalism as a lens for American values - Peggy Bowers, Clemson University

• Painterly Technology: Art Critiques America’s Technological Identity in Nineteenth Century Painting - Larry Lambert, Indiana University, South Bend

Session Organizer

• Larry Lambert, Indiana University, South Bend