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American Writing and the Rise of Visual
Culture
The genius of the age does not incline to a
deed but rather a beholding...
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841
The child born into a culture of letters in the first years of the
nineteenth century reached adulthood in what was rapidly becoming a culture
of images. "A camera! A camera! cries the century," wrote Ralph
Waldo
Emerson, "that is the only toy." Daguerreotypes, photographs, magic
lanterns, stereoscopes, galleries, museums, illustrated books and journals,
dioramas and panoramic exhibitions flooded the public consciousness,
arguably altering the very nature of human perception. Given the historical
dominance of the word on the one hand and the novelty of picture-viewing on
the other, it is worth wondering how (or whether) the character of both
writing and reading were influenced by this rise of spectacle in America. We
will ponder this question together as we read works that both seem indebted
to and antagonistic toward visual media. To a lesser extent we will also
consider literature's influence upon pictures as we look at a variety of
representative examples of 19th century American art.
When you click on the links below, a relevant text will be displayed. Take
time to read these before exploring.
Contact me at: mdesiderio@gc.cuny.edu
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