Solace in St. Louis: a Case Study in Heroic Cultural Nostalgia
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2010 Solace in St. Louis: A case study in heroic cultural nostalgia Amanda J. Pinney University of Nevada Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the United States History Commons Repository Citation Pinney, Amanda J., "Solace in St. Louis: A case study in heroic cultural nostalgia" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 324. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1563756 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SOLACE IN ST. LOUIS: A CASE STUDY IN HEROIC CULTURAL NOSTALGIA by Amanda J. Pinney Bachelor of Science Elmira College, Elmira NY 2003 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Communication Studies Department of Communication Studies Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2010 Copyright by Amanda J. Pinney 2010 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Amanda J. Pinney entitled Solace in St. Louis: A Case Study in Heroic Cultural Nostalgia be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies Joseph Valenzano, Committee Chair Thomas Burkholder, Committee Co-chair David Henry, Committee Member Anthony Ferri, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2010 ii ABSTRACT Solace in St. Louis: A Case Study in Heroic Cultural Nostalgia by Amanda J. Pinney Dr. Joseph M. Valenzano, III, Examination Committee Chair Assistant Professor-in-Residence/Basic Course Director University of Nevada, Las Vegas This thesis examines the response of American popular culture to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By utilizing the September 17, 2001 pre-game ceremony, held at Busch Stadium as a case study example larger generalizations are made about the role popular culture played in the days following the tragedy. In order to analyze this example, I have developed heroic cultural nostalgia, a framework that combines elements of myth, nostalgia and national identity. Heroic cultural nostalgia provides an explanation of how popular culture plays a role in crisis response. The framework highlights the role of contemporary heroes in evoking nostalgia as a means of providing an escape from current conditions and as a reinforcement of American exceptionalism. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Joseph Valenzano, for his guidance and encouragement and Dr. Thomas Burkholder, Dr. Anthony Ferri and Dr. David Henry for graciously serving on my thesis committee. Additionally, I would like to thank the Department of Communication Studies faculty for sharing their extensive knowledge and the Department of Communication Studies graduate students for the friendship over the past two years. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for their unwavering love and support no matter where I am or what I attempt. Thank you all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 The Terrorist Attacks and the Effect on American Culture .................................... 2 Baseball as an Example of American Culture ........................................................ 9 Theoretical Concepts Related to the Aftermath of 9/11 ....................................... 13 American Mythology ................................................................................ 14 Nostalgia ................................................................................................... 15 National Identity ....................................................................................... 17 Heroic Cultural Nostalgia ......................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT ....................................................................... 24 Reaction of Popular Culture to 9/11 ..................................................................... 25 Reaction of Sport to 9/11 ...................................................................................... 30 Reaction of Baseball to 9/11 ................................................................................. 33 Case Study: St. Louis ............................................................................................ 35 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ................................. 44 Myth ...................................................................................................................... 44 Nostalgia ............................................................................................................... 48 National Identity ................................................................................................... 50 Heroic Cultural Nostalgia ..................................................................................... 53 Heroics .................................................................................................................. 54 Heroic Nostalgia ................................................................................................... 59 Reconnecting with National Identity .................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION......................................................................................... 69 Heroic Cultural Nostalgia in Popular Culture Responses to 9/11......................... 70 Theoretical Implications ....................................................................................... 74 Practical Considerations........................................................................................ 76 Suggestions for Further Research ......................................................................... 78 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 81 VITA ................................................................................................................................. 88 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION September 11, 2001 profoundly changed American life and culture. The country went to war, the government implemented new policies, travelers faced new security procedures, and popular culture, including music, movies, art, sport and more, changed. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon marked the first time the United States had been attacked on its own soil since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Americans responded to this crisis in many different ways. Although it is impossible with this project to study every cultural response to the tragedy, it is possible to examine a representative example. However, by analyzing a specific occurrence one can more clearly understand a larger event. This thesis examines the rhetorical response of popular culture to the tragic events of September 11 by conducting a case study of the ceremony that took place at Busch Stadium on September 17, 2001, before the St. Louis Cardinals played the Milwaukee Brewers. Chapter one serves as an introduction to the project. It explains the threat to American culture presented by the terrorist attacks of 9/11, justifies baseball as a representative example of the response of popular culture to this threat, and introduces the concepts of myth, nostalgia and national identity and how they can be combined to create a theoretical framework called heroic cultural nostalgia. Chapter two provides a contextual explanation of the pre-game ceremony in St. Louis, and chapter three presents an analysis of the event. Finally, chapter four serves as a summary of the study and provides conclusions based upon this project. To begin, I first look at the threat to American culture posed by the September 11 terrorist attacks. 1 The Terrorist Attacks and the Effect on American Culture At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11, which had been hijacked en route from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Just 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the Center‘s South Tower.1 In a September 12, 2001 article in Time magazine, Nancy Gibbs wrote, The first crash had changed everything; the second changed it again. Anyone who thought