Pageantry is all about the grand display of history; the presentation. There are many reasons for this type of display of history. From the readings I gathered that this form of display serves as a sense of pride residences of a local community and of the nation (speaking from the prospective of Bodnar). This sense of pride is provided through the sense of history. This type of display is the focus and argument for the week 10 readings.
Glassberg focuses on the celebration of the city. The most popular ways being local civic celebrations (festivals, parades, and city spaces included) and historical reenactments (plays included). “The public commemoration of events from local history projects a distinctive collective identity for people of different classes, ethnic backgrounds, and lengths of residence who happen to live in the same locale” (Glassberg, 2001, p. 61). Glassberg utilizes historical examples dating back to the eighteenth century with Plymouth, Massachusetts and the celebration the landing of Pilgrims. These traditions have always and will always be apart of the Americana. It is a way to be proud, remember, and respect the origins of the community while it continues to undergo various physical and demographic transformations (Glassberg, 2001). Glassberg also points out that the displays serve a different purpose at the citywide level. At this level it is more about the politics of “collective” historical representation, which include “the press for economic advantage, the expansion of municipal services, and the restructuring of urban government” (Glassberg, 2001, p 85). This proves that disorder does indeed play a role in the building or celebration of public displays of local history. At the citywide level, it primarily becomes a form of popular culture for commercial uses.
On the other hand, Bodnar focuses on celebrating national history. He focuses on the commemorations of the American Revolution and the Civil War. As discussed by Bodnar, the intent of these displays was to “reinforce citizen loyalty to a nation-state and diminish attachments individuals may have held toward a region, a locale, or a communal group” (Bodnar, 1991, p. 243). Where are Glassberg discussed celebration to remember the origins because of continuing transformation, Bodnar discuss the contemporary political goals to transform interpretations of the past of apparent rebellion against political authorities (Bodnar, 1991).
This week’s readings discussed public displays of history in the form of pageantry and their uses. There are various forms of pageantry. Parades and plays are common displays, if not the most common, for celebrating a city’s local history and even national history. These celebrations serve multiple purposes. I believe Glassberg (2001) summed it up the best with, “urban residents have been governed by not only their economic and administrative systems but also by public displays of history in celebrations that cultivate the powerful emotion of rooting for the home team” (p. 85). I found the readings helpful in explaining local and national pageantry for various historical events and their uses.
Reference
Bodnar, J. E. (1991). Remaking America: Public memory, commemoration, and patriotism in the
twentieth century. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
Glassberg, D. (2001). Sense of history: The place of the past in American life. Amherst:
University of Massachusetts Press.
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ReplyDeleteYou wrote, "At this level it is more about the politics of 'collective' historical representation, which include 'the press for economic advantage, the expansion of municipal services, and the restructuring of urban government' (Glassberg, 2001, p 85). This proves that disorder does indeed play a role in the building or celebration of public displays of local history."
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that governments use public celebrations to create the image of unity and reduce society disorder and duress, because they often leave out the marginalized groups. With the Portola Festival, Mexicans and African Americans were left out of the celebrations. Chinese were persecuted after their participation, and the Labor Union chose to sit out on the community celebration. Despite this ideal image of unity being present, the city was unable to make it a reality. Without the achieved unity, the celebrations were still promoted as such.
In comparison to the Civil War Centennial, it is an interesting case. The Civil War Centennial attempted to create the unity ideal, but failed as well. Instead of promoting the unity, regionalism allowed the Centennial to focus on pride especially in the South. From Bodner's essay, the South made little attempt to promote unity on a national level, or across ethnic lines.
The differences in celebrations that attempt to portray unity are very fascinating. The Bodner and Glassberg reading provided us with a good range of examples.
In Bodnar's arguments for the national celebrations I found that they differed in what region they were targeting. The Civil War centennial focused on creating unity and not celebrating by regional heritage. On the other hand the Revolutionary War bicentennial was much more regionalized and less planned. Economic advantages and pride for the city and state are major motivators for these pageantry events. I find it interesting the parts in history that people choose to include and not include, for example with the YouTube video over the Midwest revolutionary war parade when they included the Pilgrims as well as the Statue of Liberty.
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