Creating the American Athens
Cities, Cultural Institutions, and the Arts, 1840-1930
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9449476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathleen D Mccarthy, Kathleen Mccarthy (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 426-426 |
| Publication date | 1985-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0678 • E-ISSN: 1080-6490 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2712667 |
| OpenAlex | W2326662296 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
AMERICAN CITIES HAVE TRADITIONALLY VIED FOR THE TITLE OF ATHENS of America, a competition which has fostered the creation of many of the nation's leading cultural institutions. Yet in comparison with the works on other facets of life, the literature dealing with the cities' artistic developments remains relatively thin. With a few notable exceptions, the data on these developments lie buried in antiquarian compendia, institutional studies, and chapters of more general works on the visual arts, music, and theater. Even when artistic developments are highlighted in a single city, they are generally linked to broader artistic trends rather than the process of urbanization. Perhaps the most useful introduction to the process of cultural development is Neil Harris's essay, Four Stages of Cultural Growth: The American City, which appeared in the Indiana Historical Society Lectures in 1971 -72.1 Focusing on the lure of urban pull, Harris has segmented the history of culture into four periods: the colonial era, when cities served as receiving points for older, European traditions; the early republic to the 1870s, when artistic competition with Europe spawned a welter of inclusive cultural institutions and art popularization schemes; the 1870s to about 1940, when the emphasis shifted from participation to certification and cultural separatism; and the most recent era, when the standardizing influence of the mass media has helped to undermine the city's hegemony over cultural fare. In this milieu, Harris has argued, the nationalization of culture caused museums, operas, theaters, and symphonies to be increasingly viewed as national, rather than local possessions. Even when the focus is narrowed to a more manageable chronological framework, from 1840 to the eve of the Great Depression, Harris's essay raised
Art · Cultural institution · Economic history · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · The arts · Visual arts · Art History and Market Analysis · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · History
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2004 - 2012 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |