Riverscapes and national identities / Tricia Cusack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cusack, Tricia.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Series:

Space, place, and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rivers.

Rivers--Social aspects.

Nationalism.

Water and civilization.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xii, 237 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2010.

Summary:

Painted riverscapes such as Claude Monet's impressions of the Seine, Isaak Levitan's Volga views, or Thomas Cole's Hudson scenery became iconic not least because they embodied nationalist ideas about place and about culture. At a time when nationalism was taking root across Europe and the United States, the riverscape played an important role in transforming the abstract idea of the nation into a potent visual image. It not only offered a picture of the nation's physical character, but through aspects such as style, the figures portrayed, and the nature of the implied spectator, it presented a cultural ideal. In this highly original book, Tricia Cusak explores significance of painted riverscapes to the creation of national identities in nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe and America. Focusing on five rivers, the Hudson, the Volga, the Seine, the Thames, and the Shannon, the author outlines the history of the development of national landscapes, elaborating on the distinctive nature of riverscapes. Drawing on the symbolic potential of rivers to represent life and time, the riverscape provided a metaphor for the mythic stream of national history flowing unimpeded out of the past and into the future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780815632115

0815632118

OCLC:

318873780

Publisher Number:

99937354627