The American Future: A History

Like The American Future itself, the reviewers have been able to draw on particular parts of the series and examine particular aspects of it which speak to differing areas of American studies. [...]meditations on the music used, the historical examples cited, or the visual images that were construct...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of American studies 2009-12, Vol.43 (3)
Main Authors: SEWELL, BEVAN, MURRAY, DAVID, KAUFMAN, WILL, WEBB, CLIVE, Schama, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American history
Archives & records
Television programs
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Summary:Like The American Future itself, the reviewers have been able to draw on particular parts of the series and examine particular aspects of it which speak to differing areas of American studies. [...]meditations on the music used, the historical examples cited, or the visual images that were constructed have, in themselves, created a fluid discussion not just about Schama's analysis of contemporary America and its past, but also about what the images and stories used tell us - as scholars of American studies - about the United States and its ongoing development. [...]Schama's own confession when reading the grotesque Chinese-baiting of the California nativist, Charles MacLachan ("It turns my stomach to read this kind of thing") or his response to Dick Cheney's description of the US as "a peaceful nation" during a Veterans' Day speech ("That's rich, coming from him"). Significantly, Schama used the opportunity to take the music beyond its customary function of atmospheric or implicit commentary, incorporating the music (and the musicians) as documentary subjects in themselves. [...]while we heard a verse of the Dillards' song "The Old Home Place," Schama described the ways in which bluegrass music has helped poor white Americans both to escape and to express the toughness of their lives, not least through its strong Protestant undercurrents. [...]when Schama revealed his hero-worshipping of Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, he did so by focussing on Hamer's own linkage between gospel music and social freedom and between church songs and voter registration, inviting Hamer's daughter, Vergie, to sing some of her mother's inspiring songs at her graveside.
ISSN:0021-8758
1469-5154
DOI:10.1017/S0021875809991083