Exploring the next frontier : Vietnam, NASA, Star Trek and utopia in 1960s and 1970s American myth and history / Matthew Wilhelm Kapell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kapell, Matthew, author.

Series:

Routledge advances in American history ; 4.

Routledge advances in American history ; 4

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Frontier and pioneer life--United States--Philosophy.

Frontier and pioneer life.

Myth--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Myth.

Frontier thesis.

History.

Territorial expansion.

Philosophy.

Myth--Political aspects.

United States--Territorial expansion--Philosophy.

United States.

United States--History--1961-1969.

United States--History--1969-.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Influence.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration--History--20th century.

Star trek (Television program).

O'Neill, Gerard K. High frontier.

O'Neill, Gerard K.

Physical Description:

x, 226 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

"The 1960s and early 70s saw the evolution of Frontier Myths even as scholars were renouncing the interpretive value of myths themselves. Works like Joe Haldeman's The Forever War exemplified that rejection using his experiences during the Vietnam War to illustrate the problematic consequences of simple mythic idealism. Simultaneously, Americans were playing with expanded and revised versions of familiar Frontier Myths, though in a contemporary context, through NASA's lunar missions, Star Trek, and Gerard K. O'Neill's High Frontier. This book examines the reasons behind the exclusion of Frontier Myths to the periphery of scholarly discourse, and endeavors to build a new model for understanding their enduring significance. This model connects NASA's failed attempts to recycle earlier myths, wholesale, to Star Trek's revision of those myths and rejection of the idea of a frontier paradise, to O'Neill's desire to realize such a paradise in Earth's orbit. This new synthesis defies the negative connotations of Frontier Myths during the 1960s and 70s and attempts to resuscitate them for relevance in the modern academic context"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: 1969 and an American Mythos

Paradigms Lost and Paradigms Regained : A Mythography of the Lost Frontier

Vietnam, The Forever War, and the Shattering of American Myth

Technological Triumph, Mythological Miasma : NASA, the Moon, and Transforming Mythos into Logos

The Rejection of Paradise : Star Trek and the Final Frontier

The High Frontier of Gerard K. O'Neill : An Endless Frontier Utopia in Orbit

Conclusion: A Continuing Mythic Significance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Kapell, Matthew. Exploring the next frontier.

ISBN:

9781138188570

1138188573

OCLC:

934705634