Engaging the Past - Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge

Alison Landsberg

Summary

Reading films, television dramas, reality shows, and virtual exhibits, among other popular texts, Engaging the Past examines the making and meaning of history for everyday viewers. Contemporary media can encourage complex interactions with the past that have far-reaching consequences for history and politics. Viewers experience these representations personally, cognitively, and bodily, but, as this book reveals, not just by identifying with the characters portrayed. Some of the works considered in this volume include the films Hotel Rwanda (2004), Good Night and Good Luck (2005), and Milk (2008); the television dramas Deadwood, Mad Men, and Rome; the reality shows Frontier House, Colonial House, and Texas Ranch House; and The Secret Annex Online, accessed through the Anne Frank House website, and the Kristallnacht exhibit, accessed through the Unites States Holocaust Museum website. These mass cultural texts cultivate what Alison Landsberg calls an "affective engagement" with the past, tying the viewer to an event or person and fostering a sense of intimacy that does more than transport the viewer back in time. Affect, she suggests, can also work to disorient the viewer, forcibly pushing him or her out of the narrative and back into his or her own body. By analyzing these specific popular history formats, Landsberg shows the unique way they provoke historical thinking and produce historical knowledge, prompting a reconsideration of what constitutes history and an understanding of how history works in the contemporary mediated public sphere.

Available since: 06/09/2015.

Other books that might interest you

Child-biting Chorizo and...

David García González

What does it take to be a successful business owner in a foreign country? This audiobook tells one man's extraordinary story of business and personal success against all odds. In this unflinchingly honest account of David's journey, you'll discover how an ordinary person can become a high achiever and do amazing things. Listen to this audiobook, apply its lessons, and you too can become bulletproof in life and in business. David García González is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and CEO of GoLocalise, one of the UK's most successful translation and localisation businesses. This candid, witty and irreverent autobiography gives you a rare insight into what it takes to translate your life and circumstances into success. Learn more at www.davidgarciagonzalez.com

Show book

Raising Free People -...

Akilah S. Richards, Bayo...

No one is immune to the byproducts of compulsory schooling and standardized testing. And while reform may be a worthy cause for some, it is not enough for countless others still trying to navigate the tyranny of what schooling has always been. Raising Free People argues that we need to build and work within systems designed for any human to learn, grow, socialize, and thrive, regardless of age, ability, background, or access to money.Raising Free People explores examples of the transition from school or homeschooling to unschooling, how single parents and people facing financial challenges unschool successfully, and ways unschooling allows us to address generational trauma and unlearn the habits we mindlessly pass on to children.In these detailed and unabashed stories and insights, Richards examines the ways that her relationships to blackness, decolonization, and healing work all combine to form relationships and enable community-healing strategies rooted in an unschooling practice. This is how millions of families center human connection, practice clear, and honest communication, and raise children who do not grow up to feel that they narrowly survived their childhoods.

Show book

Summary Update and Expansion:...

Scott Campbell

I selected Francis Crick’s Life Itself to update, summarize, and expand because he promoted the idea that DNA did not first evolve on Earth. If true, DNA’s alien origin would be one of the most important realizations in all Human history. Life, according to Crick, began somewhere else where conditions were more favorable and, with the help of advanced intelligence, seeded Earth through panspermic, “seeds everywhere,” events. This has been labeled as the “seeded hypothesis.” 
If DNA originated elsewhere, it reflects not only upon our beginnings as a form of “alien” or “alien hybrid” but also our future, which may include merging with one or more advanced civilizations. We may, indeed, one day, meet our “makers,” or at least some of their descendants. 
This ebook summarizes Crick’s work which previously could only be found, to the best of my knowledge, in printed form, adds the evidence of signatures and hidden mathematical and pictorial codes from DNA for his theory, offers general updates on cosmological data that Crick did not have at his disposal, addresses the subject of the surprising Last Universal Common Ancestor for life, and briefly explores our government’s about-face on the subject of Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) and bizarre materials found at their landings which they admit having and examining.

Show book

Amazing Medical People: A2-B1 -...

F. H. Cornish, Fiona MacKenzie

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history.
Contents:
Edward Jenner, the man who fought the terrible disease, smallpox
Florence Nightingale, the nurse known as ‘the lady with the lamp’
Elizabeth Garrett, England’s first female doctor
Carl Jung, the doctor who wanted to understand the human mind
Jonas Salk who defeated the dangerous illness, polio
Christiaan Barnard, the first man to replace a human heart
BRITISH ENGLISH
Word count: 10,006
Headword count: 883
PLUS: visit www.collinselt.com/readers for videos, teacher resources and self-study materials.
This book is Level 2 in the Collins ELT Readers series.
Level 2 is equivalent to CEF level A2-B1.
About the Amazing People series:
A unique opportunity for learners of English to read about the exceptional lives and incredible abilities of some of the most insightful people the world has seen.
Each book contains six short stories, told by the characters themselves, as if in their own words. The stories explain the most significant parts of each character’s life, giving an insight into how they came to be such an important historic figure.
After each story, a timeline presents the most major events in their life in a clear and succinct fashion. The timeline is ideal for checking comprehension or as a basis for project work or further research.
Created in association with The Amazing People Club.
About Collins ELT Readers:
Collins ELT Readers are divided into four levels:
Level 1 – elementary (A2)
Level 2 – pre-intermediate (A2–B1)
Level 3 – intermediate (B1)
Level 4 – upper intermediate (B2)
Each level is carefully graded to ensure that the learner both enjoys and benefits from their reading experience.

Show book

Learn Indonesian: Must-Know...

Innovative Language Learning

Want to speak Indonesian like a native, understand daily conversations......and graduate from ""knowing just a few basic textbook phrases""?Then this the Audiobook is for you.You're about to learn 100+ Indonesian slang words and phrases used in daily life. With the ""Learn Indonesian: Must-Know Indonesian Slang Words & Phrases (Extended Version) by IndonesianPod101"" Audiobook, our teachers explain and break down each word and phrase across 25 lessons!And all YOU have to do is listen and repeat.What you get with this Audiobook:- 25+ Audio-based Lessons & Review Tracks- 169 Minutes (2.5+ Hours) in Total - Includes a 100+ Page eBook- BONUS! Indonesian Slang Conversation Cheat SheetResults you can expect:- Master 100+ New Words & Phrases- Improve Your Speaking & Listening Skills- Become a Better Indonesian Speaker

Show book

Summary: The Road Less Stupid -...

Brooks Bryant

Disclaimer: This is not the official book, but a summary & it does not accompany the official. 
Explore the nuances of 'thinking time' — Cunningham's signature strategy that has empowered countless entrepreneurs to make smarter decisions and dodge costly pitfalls. From understanding cash flow to mastering the mindset for success, our summary captures the essence of Cunningham's teachings, guiding readers down the path of less regret and greater profits. 
Unlock the secrets to smart entrepreneurship and discover the road that's not just less traveled, but 'less stupid'. With our concise rendition of this transformative guide, embrace the tools and insights that can shift your business journey from turbulent to triumphant.

Show book