| June 2006
Cultural Preservation | Film
& Television | History
| Literature | Popular Culture | Visual
Arts
G1 - Mt. Rushmore
Perrottet, Tony
Smithsonian, May 2006, v37, #2, pp78-83
"A fresh cleaning and a new Native American director are changing the face of the South Dakota monument. Perrottet details the history of Mount Rushmore and how Gerard Baker, Mount Rushmore's first American Indian superintendent, is expanding programs and lectures at the monument to include the Indian perspective." Tony Perrottet is a New York based journalist and writer. Fulltext
Film & Television
G2 - A Sequel Too Far: The Case of the Multiplying Movie
Castle, Robert
Bright Lights Film Journal, May 2006, #52, online edition
“There is a simple, plain logic to sequels. Capitalize on the prodigious success of the original movie. Sometimes the box office success of a movie is modest, but within that lies a greater audience waiting to break out. The logic carries another step. If the sequel is successful, make a third. And a fourth. Until, finally, the series of movies has gone a sequel too far.” Robert Castle teaches American history, film criticism and sociology. He regularly publishes articles. Fulltext
G3 - Life Lessons: How Soap Operas Can Change the World
Rosin, Hannah
New Yorker, June 5, 2006, v82, #16, pp40-45
Drama serials, originating in the 1950s in the United States as long-running daytime "soap operas," have proven to be the most enduring and popular form of television programming. Now known worldwide as telenovelas, these TV and radio programs are being transformed in many countries as vehicles to teach literacy, combat AIDS, fight domestic abuse, and encourage civic participation. The article describes how New York-based Population Communications International works with the United Nations and USAID, as well as grassroots community groups and social workers, to develop scripts that reflect the cultures and traditions of their audiences in poor countries while transmitting messages of empowerment. Hannah Rosin is a staff writer for the Washington Post. Fulltext
History
G4 - Custer, The Little Bighorn & History
Kraft, Louis
American History, June 2006, v141, #2, pp46-56
“On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer
and 12 companies of the 7th Cavalry attacked a massive Lakota-Cheyenne
village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Custer
lost not only the battle but also his life, and in so doing achieved
immortality. In the 130 years since, the death of Custer and every
man in the five companies of his immediate command has grown to
mythic proportions. Although he was already a popular figure in
his own time, the disaster that doomed George Armstrong Custer
on the Little Bighorn forever secured his place in the American
mind and mythology.” Author/historian Louis Kraft has concentrated
on the Indian wars since the mid-1980s. Fulltext
Literature
G5 - American Literature: A Vanishing Subject
Delbanco, Andrew
Daedalus, Spring 2006, v135, #2, pp22-37
This article outlines the history of American critical writing
from the beginning of the 19th century until today. The author
argues that through the centuries American literary writing sought
to juxtaposition itself against the literature of Europe, the
old world. Nowadays, with much emphasis on globalization and a
rather aggressive U.S. foreign policy, Americanist scholars shy
away from calling for a distinct American identity in literature.
Instead, they focus the cultural and linguistic variety within
the United States. Nevertheless, Delbanco concedes, American literature
is not a product of Americanist scholars but of United States’
writers that contribute to its legacy. Andrew Delbanco, Julian
Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University,
has been a Fellow of the American Academy since 2001. Fulltext
Popular Culture
G6 - American Pie
Miller, Hanna
American Heritage, April/May 2006, v57, #2, pp30-38
Pizza has become "the most successful immigrant of all" to the U.S., notes the author. Although it arrived in the U.S. relatively late compared with long-standing favorites such as the hamburger and hot dog, pizza "has secured a special place on the American table." Pizza first came across the Atlantic with the millions of Italian immigrants in the 1920s, and while there were regional variations, it soon coalesced into a version of the traditional Neapolitan pie. Pizza boomed in popularity after World War II, as Americans sought quick and easy food; the article chronicles the growth of the modern pizza industry. Notes the author, "pizza, like teenagedom and rock 'n' roll, is a lasting relic of America's mid-century embrace of good times.” Hanna Miller Hanna Miller, a food historian, leads culinary tours in Asheville, North Carolina. Fulltext
G7 -TV: Our Industrial Folklore: George Gerbner’s (Tele)Vision
Turow, Joseph
The American Interest, Summer2006, v1,#4, pp101-106
In this article, the author portraits the research of George
Gerbner, a pioneer in the study of violence on television. Together
with a colleague, Gerbner developed “cultivation theory,” to show
that heavy television viewers who are exposed to many acts of
violence on TV overrate their chances of being a victim of violence
themselves. In the 1960s when the theory was formulated, the prevailing
thought was that viewers who are exposed to too much violence
on TV are more prone to commit violent acts than people who watch
less TV. Gerbner understood how television as a mass communication
medium can shape society’s perception of reality. One of his most
important findings was that “ viewers who see members of their
own group underrepresented but overvictimized seem to develop
a greater sense of apprehension, mistrust and alienation, what
we call the ‘mean world syndrome.” Order
Article
Visual Arts
G8 - Wyeth's World
Adams, Henry
Smithsonian, Jun 2006, v37, #3, pp84-93
Andrew Wyeth is the subject of a new exhibition at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. "The first major retrospective of the artist's
work in 30 years, the exhibition, on display through July 16,
was co-organized with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where
it opened in November 2005. […] Over a career that has spanned
seven decades, Wyeth, now 88 and still painting, has produced
a wealth of technically stunning paintings and drawings that have
won him a huge popular following and earned him a considerable
fortune. But widespread acceptance among critics, art historians
and museum curators continues to elude him, and his place in history
remains a matter of intense debate.” Art history professor
Henry Adams also wrote the catalog for the Brandywine River Museum's
exhibition of Wyeth's drawings. Fulltext
G9 - Winslow Homer: His Melancholy Truth
Parks, John A.
American Artist, Jul/Aug 2006, v70, #767, pp45-51
Some major artists create popular stereotypes that last for
decades; others never reach into popular culture at all. Winslow
Homer was a painter of the first kind. Even today, 150 years after
his birth, one sees his echoes on half the magazine racks of America.
Winslow Homer was not, of course, the first "sporting artist"
in America, but he was the undisputed master of the genre. The
paintings of Winslow Homer have long passed beyond mere fame to
become an integral part of American cultural consciousness. This
article discusses a great painter's devotion to realism, inspiring
a personal and often haunting vision of the world. John A.
Parks an artist and a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in
New York City and a frequent contributor to art magazines.
Fulltext
G10 - David Smith's Vision
Munson, Steven C.
Commentary, May 2006, v121, #5, pp62-65
"David Smith (1906-1965) is generally considered one
of America's greatest sculptors; he was also one of the most influential
American artists of the 20th century. On the occasion of the 100th
anniversary of his birth, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City
has organized a major retrospective, revealing the nature of Smith's
originality, and the relationship between American and European
modernism." Fulltext
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