| Description |
This thesis looks closely at the phenomenon of "landscape," arguing that in art, a landscape acts as a network of cultural codes and ideologies made visible. These values are put on display not as an innocuous pursuit, but rather in the attempt to enact a kind of cultural colonization; landscapes do persuasive work as a means of convincing others of what matters most. As artifacts, these landscapes are imagined views that, while they may make reference to actual places, say more about the artist or community's grounding principles than the actual natural character of a space. My work here will focus on the way that landscapes reveal particular anxieties, most notably the anxieties over the intersection of memory and place. This thesis focuses on two landscapes in particular, the work of nineteenth-century American painter Thomas Cole and Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel The Road. The discussion of Cole focuses on the concern the artist felt for the direction the nation was going spurred by Jacksonian politics. This fear of a growing empire's strength is coupled in Cole's Course of Empire series, with a nod to the allure of progress, especially the frontier ethic that dominated nineteenth century America. The discussion of McCarthy's novel focuses on the way that memory and history become a grounding set of principles that attempt to resist the violence of an apocalyptic world. These protective memories are born out of a character's relationship with the landscape he travels through and the way that it recalls a lost world. The Road argues that though this longed-for world cannot be regained, it nevertheless provides an opportunity for a family to pursue what they believe to be noble ends: survival, persistence, even violence. Both landscapes illustrate American anxieties about the shape of the future in light of the past. Memory is enacted in sometimes idealized, sometimes terrifying, often contradicting depictions of the natural world made political. |
