HIST 2055 : Complete Notes For Exam 1
Document Summary
Displacement of historical authenticity in exchange for a romantic ideal. Indian is in everything: oklahoma, houma, mississippi, alabama, chicago = onion fields. Every nation needs a history, beginning with an orgins story, constructed through unifying themes, instructive narratives, and commemorative rituals, all playing on. Each generation reshapes a collective identity so as to underscore its right as an inheritor of the original vision. Collective id- what is it/ the characteristics that make one feel american/different than. Stories that convey a sense of the nation"s virtue justify belief in its political strength and cultural supremacy. In sum, history is envisioned anew by each generation. Memory, fragmentary as it is, becomes malleable through the force of a political or cultural ideology. Ideology - set of cultural belief, not an absolute truth about something, its what shapes your perspective on the world. Maybe because it feels better than historical reality. George washington portrayed as farmer, but was cold, vain, etc.
