How the Arabian Nights Inspired the American Dream, 1790-1935 (eBook)

Susan Nance (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2009
358 Seiten
The University of North Carolina Press (Verlag)
978-0-8078-9405-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Americans have always shown a fascination with the people, customs, and legends of the East witness the popularity of the stories of the Arabian Nights, the performances of Arab belly dancers and acrobats, the feats of turban-wearing vaudeville magicians, and even the antics of fez-topped Shriners. In this captivating volume, Susan Nance provides a social and cultural history of this highly popular genre of Easternized performance in America up to the Great Depression.According to Nance, these traditions reveal how a broad spectrum of Americans, including recent immigrants and impersonators, behaved as producers and consumers in a rapidly developing capitalist economy. In admiration of the Arabian Nights, people creatively reenacted Eastern life, but these performances were also demonstrations of Americans' own identities, Nance argues. The story of Aladdin, made suddenly rich by rubbing an old lamp, stood as a particularly apt metaphor for how consumer capitalism might benefit each person. The leisure, abundance, and contentment that many imagined were typical of Eastern life were the same characteristics used to define the American dream.The recent success of Disneys Aladdin movies suggests that many Americans still welcome an interpretation of the East as a site of incredible riches, romance, and happy endings. This abundantly illustrated account is the first by a historian to explain why and how so many Americans sought out such cultural engagement with the Eastern world long before geopolitical concerns became paramount.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.6.2009
• Zusatzinfo: 25 illus., notes, bibl., index
• Verlagsort: Chapel Hill
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 160 x 160 mm
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Tanzen / Tanzsport
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
• Schlagworte: 1776-1940 • African American Islam • ancient arabic order • Arabian Nights • Bayard Taylor • Cabaret • Capitalism • Christopher Oscanyan • Circus • Communication • Consumer Culture • consumption • Entertainment • ethnic performance • exhibitions / • Exhibitions • Foreign public opinion • fraternal orders • imperialism • Islam • magicians • Middle East • Music Hall • Muslims in popular culture • nobles of the mystic shrine • oriental tales • performing arts • popular culture and United States • shriners • South Asians in popular culture • stage shows • street parades • United States • United States and civilization • variety shows • Vaudeville • West Asians in popular culture • world's fairs
• ISBN-10: 0-8078-9405-2 / 0807894052
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8078-9405-7 / 9780807894057