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Amber Noecker New Cultural Bounds The “‘We are Largely Farmers’: Landscape Mythology in German‐American Culture” By: Amber Noecker New Cultural Bounds The United States in which we find ourselves today is one no longer primarily bound by lines of race, ethnicity, or profession, but instead by patterns of consumption. Consumer activity provides the means through which we define ourselves in relation to other people, the foundation upon which we organize our lives, and a roadmap which guides our everyday and lifelong paths. One of the legacies of such an existence is that conceptions of a past in which consumption was not the primary basis of cultural organization are rarely evoked and less accurately understood. The indisputable centrality of consumption to our historical narrative illustrates the power of myth in the creation of a cultural consciousness. Roots in the Cold War Though the United States had long shared political space with rivals, the rise of the Soviet Union in the postwar period constituted a new sort of threat, based not in national origin but rather around economic organization. The creation of the American consumer republic arose from the logical progression of capitalism: industrialization completely defined the American economy by the conclusion of the Second World War, necessitating alternative outlets for the excesses of capital and personnel that it had created. The creation of the American consumer economy also enabled the expansion of American economic, social, and political dominance, and the resulting rise in both wealth and global influence legitimized the older myth of American exceptionalism, which had originated in the first wave of national anxiety about the moral implications of consumption at the close of the nineteenth century. The Dunkard‐Brethren Church The shift from rural landscapes and agrarian social organization to urban landscapes and industrial social organization existed in both “nature” and “nature in itself,” a concept visible in the German‐American Brethren’s struggle to maintain traditional practices tied to “nature” against the physically‐changing character of “nature in itself.” At the heart of all of the challenges to traditional Dunker culture in the nineteenth century was the shift from an agrarian economy to an industrial one, a theme that persisted through the formation of the Dunkard Brethren Church. But the Brethren’s experiences in America were only one half of the story – the other lay in their German roots, deeply influenced by medieval German ideals about nature and landscapes. The dominant theme of founding Dunkard thought was a preoccupation with the recreation of primitive Christianity, a specifically German reaction to the tumultuous atmosphere of war‐torn Germany in the latter decades of the seventeenth century. In this effort, we can see the recreation of a preindustrial culture, reliant on an agrarian‐centered social organization and economic activities firmly tied to elements of the physical landscape. This desire for primitivism constitutes the foundation of the so‐called “reactionary attitudes” of the Dunkard Brethren Church in guarding against American popular culture in the first several decades of the twentieth century, and against any trend, innovation, or idea not in harmony with preindustrial social organization. Alternative Paths German society developed in opposition to the Enlightenment ideology so eagerly embraced by other Western nations, and so responsible for the environmental destruction now apparent in the world we currently inhabit. This destruction was largely effected by the voracious attitudes of consumer capitalism, which was rejected by medieval German mythology in favor of a more natural wilderness and simplicity. Though consumption has always generated a level of moral angst among certain classes of Western society, it is merely a symptom of a deeper problem – Enlightenment ideology’s refusal that nature myths and memory do, in fact, hold significant meaning, and can provide alternative patterns of living to the destructive paradigm characteristic of twentieth century American society. Amber Noecker Dr. Dieterich-Ward Seminar in Global Comparative Environmental History April 13, 2009 “We Are Largely Farmers:” Landscape Mythology and German-American Culture Last December, former Vice President Al Gore published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal , in which he decried the financial irresponsibility that has contributed to the current financial crisis. The article, entitled “We Need Sustainable Capitalism,” claimed that that same attitude was responsible for the environmental degradation characteristic of the twentieth century. This assessment is exactly correct. However, Gore’s argument contains a fatal conceptual flaw, encapsulated in the last few sentences of his article: “We need to return to first principles. We need a more long-term and responsible form of capitalism. We must develop sustainable capitalism.” 1 For anyone familiar with the rhythms of American history, Gore’s article is only a confirmation of the centrality of consumption to the American cultural identity, one of the most dominant of American myths and inclusive of both economic and environmental themes. This paper will discuss the centrality of nature myth and memory to the cultural identity of a people, using the specific example of the Dunkard Brethren Church in the 1920s and 1930s. In the process, it is my intention to illuminate the inseparable quality of environmental and economic issues in both preindustrial and industrial eras, as well as to draw attention to the significant consequences of an understanding of history organized around empirical research and devoid of moral value and meaning. The United States in which we find ourselves today is one in which people are culturally bound no longer primarily by lines of race, ethnicity, or profession, but instead by patterns of consumption. Consumer activity provides the means through which we define ourselves in relation to other people, the foundation upon which we organize our lives, and a roadmap which guides our 1 Al Gore, “We Need Sustainable Capitalism,” Wall Street Journal , November 5, 2008, http://online.wsj.com/ article/SB122584367114799137.html, accessed April 9, 2009. everyday and lifelong paths. One of the legacies of such an existence is that conceptions of a past in which consumption was not the primary basis of cultural organization are rarely evoked and are even more rarely accurately understood. The indisputable centrality of consumption to our historical narrative illustrates the power of myth in the creation of a cultural consciousness. Though the United States had long shared political space with rivals, the rise of the Soviet Union in the postwar period constituted a new sort of threat, based not in national origin but rather around economic organization. The creation of the American consumer republic arose from the logical progression of capitalism: industrialization completely defined the American economy by the conclusion of the second World War, necessitating alternative outlets for the excesses of capital and personnel that it had created. In response to the threat posed by Soviet socialism, the creation of a new national identity was necessary, and Americans came to define themselves increasingly according to what sort of car they drove instead of from which European nation their grandparents had emigrated. The creation of the American consumer economy also enabled the expansion of American economic (and social and political) dominance, and the resulting rise in both wealth and global influence legitimized the older myth of American exceptionalism, which had originated in the first wave of national anxiety about the moral implications of consumption at the close of the nineteenth century. Both capitalism and socialism are progeny of the Enlightenment, the foundation upon which Western thought is constructed. Enlightenment ideology is fundamentally rational, logical, and scientific, relying upon the use of empirical methods to determine the proper course of action in any given situation. Enlightenment-era thought is indisputably central to American culture, visible in our founding documents (“All men are created equal”), our economic structure, and our social propensity toward statistical evidence. But the Enlightenment is not all that it appears to be, and beneath its comforting assertions of impartial rationality lay the hidden foundations of a deeper, non-empirical mythology – or so Simon Schama would have us believe. 2 In Landscape and Memory , Schama disputes the nature and legacy of the Enlightenment, arguing that it constitutes only another form of mythology to which humanity can cling. As an art historian and intimately familiar with the significance of global works of art to their respective culture, Schama unveils an alternative vision of Western intellectual thought: “beneath its pretentions to have built a culture grounded in reason…lay a powerful residue of mythic unreason.” 2 The Enlightenment would have us believe there is little room in rational society for non-quantifiable phenomena, including any meaning within the physical attributes of the landscape upon which all contemporary structures rest. Schama, however, takes issue with this idea: “our entire landscape tradition…[is] built from a rich deposit of myths, memories, and obsessions…the cultural habits of humanity have always made room for the sacredness of nature.” 3 The significance, and the accuracy, of Schama’s ideas about mythology
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