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Reconstruction

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Date Issued:
2007
Summary:
This thesis presents an examination of the trope of photography in E. L. Doctorow's latest novel, The March, which takes General Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas as its subject matter. The Civil War, as the first major American military conflict to be photographed, is the perfect vehicle for the novel's meditation upon the representation of significant political and cultural events. As this paper argues, photography functions in the novel as a metaphor for visual culture in general. In particular, I argue that the discrepancies which the novel posits between the photographic record and lived experience function to trouble notions of media transparency. As the novel suggests, the popular conception of photography, which constructs it is an irreproachable and infallible medium, has lent itself to political manipulation. Thus, through photography, the novel depicts history as the conventional framing of events for posterity, not as a comprehensive record of events.
Title: Reconstruction: photography and history in E.L. Doctorow's The March.
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Name(s): Seymour, Eric.
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Issuance: multipart monograph
Date Issued: 2007
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
electronic resource
Extent: v, 42 leaves.
Language(s): English
Summary: This thesis presents an examination of the trope of photography in E. L. Doctorow's latest novel, The March, which takes General Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas as its subject matter. The Civil War, as the first major American military conflict to be photographed, is the perfect vehicle for the novel's meditation upon the representation of significant political and cultural events. As this paper argues, photography functions in the novel as a metaphor for visual culture in general. In particular, I argue that the discrepancies which the novel posits between the photographic record and lived experience function to trouble notions of media transparency. As the novel suggests, the popular conception of photography, which constructs it is an irreproachable and infallible medium, has lent itself to political manipulation. Thus, through photography, the novel depicts history as the conventional framing of events for posterity, not as a comprehensive record of events.
Identifier: 314398511 (oclc), 11600 (digitool), FADT11600 (IID), fau:1332 (fedora)
Note(s): by Eric Seymour.
Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Honors College, 2007.
Bibliography: leaves 40-42.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2007. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Doctorow, E.L, 1931-
Doctorow, E. L, 1931-
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
South Carolina -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction -- Criticism and interpretation
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11600
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Host Institution: FAU

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