The American Historical Imaginary: Contested Narratives of the Past

Caroline Guthrie

Published by Rutgers University Press 2023

The American Historical Imaginary

Contested Narratives of the Past

Caroline Guthrie

https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978818842

Overview
Contents

About this book

In The American Historical Imaginary: Contested Narratives of the Past in Mass Culture Caroline Guthrie examines the American relationship to versions of the past that are known to be untrue and asks why do these myths persist, and why do so many people hold them so dear? To answer these questions, she examines popular sites where fictional versions of history are formed, played through, and solidified. From television’s reality show winners and time travelers, to the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, to the movies of Quentin Tarantino, this book examines how mass culture imagines and reimagines the most controversial and painful parts of American history. In doing so, Guthrie explores how contemporary ideas of national identity are tied to particular versions of history that valorize white masculinity and ignores oppression and resistance. Through her explanation and analysis of what she calls the historical imaginary, Guthrie offers new ways of attempting to combat harmful myths of the past through the imaginative engagements they have dominated for so long.

Author / Editor information

CAROLINE GUTHRIE teaches with the department of communication and the women’s and gender studies program at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Reviews

“This is a must-read for those interested in understanding the prominent roles that media corporations play in shaping the collective historical imagination, as well as the various strategies that film and media makers implement to critically intervene and challenge the historical status quo.”

— Novotny Lawrence, co-editor of Beyond Blaxploitation

"For anyone interested in why our national myths have been so intractable, despite constant historical evidence to the contrary, Guthrie’s American Historical Imaginary is a must read. Combining skillful close readings of mass cultural texts that engage traumatic historical events of the past, with a bold and ambitious theoretical argument about the centrality of mass culture as the terrain upon which the meanings of the past are negotiated and renegotiated, Guthrie’s text is nothing short of pathbreaking."

— Alison Landsberg, author of Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 The History Channel’s Reality Competitions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
2 Time Travel Television Series Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
3 American History in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4 The European Legacy and American Future in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
5 Quentin Tarantino’s Alternate Histories Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152