Miller, Eva Rose;
(2024)
Early Civilization and the American Modern: Images of Middle Eastern origins in the United States, 1893–1939.
[Book].
UCL Press: London, UK.
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Abstract
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a particular story about the United States’ role in the long history of world civilization was constructed in public spaces, through public art and popular histories. This narrative posited that civilization and its benefits – science, law, writing, art and architecture – began in Egypt and Mesopotamia before passing ever further westward, towards a triumphant culmination on the American continent. Early Civilization and the American Modern explores how this teleological story answered anxieties about the United States’ unique role in the long march of progress. Eva Miller focuses on important figures who collaborated on the creation of a visual, progressive narrative in key institutions, world’s fairs and popular media: Orientalist and public intellectual James Henry Breasted, astronomer George Ellery Hale, architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, and decorative artists Lee Lawrie and Hildreth Meière. At a time when new information about the ancient Middle East was emerging through archaeological excavation, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia appeared simultaneously old and new. This same period was crucial to the development of public space and civic life across the United States, as a shared sense of historical consciousness was actively pursued by politicians, philanthropists, intellectuals, architects and artists.
| Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Title: | Early Civilization and the American Modern: Images of Middle Eastern origins in the United States, 1893–1939 |
| ISBN-13: | 9781800087200 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.14324/111.9781800087200 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Text © Author, 2024 Images © Author and copyright holders named in captions, 2024 Any third-party material in this book is not covered by the book’s Creative Commons licence. Details of the copyright ownership and permitted use of third-party material is given in the image (or extract) credit lines. If you would like to reuse any third-party material not covered by the book’s Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright owner. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/4.0/. This licence allows you to share and adapt the work for non-commercial use providing attribution is made to the author and publisher (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work) and any changes are indicated. Attribution should include the following information: Miller, E. 2024. Early Civilization and the American Modern: Images of Middle Eastern origins in the United States, 1893–1939. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800087200 Further details about Creative Commons licences are available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ |
| Keywords: | public art, visual education, American studies, reception studies, world history |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of History |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10194611 |
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