DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Every Man for Himself“: Individualism as a cornerstone of American culture, as represented in Lost Verfasser Lukas Chatzioannidis angestrebter akademischer Grad Magister der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2012 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 343 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Brandt 2 Lukas Chatzioannidis Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1. The role of individualism in the American cultural imaginary ......................................... 7 1.1. Cultural Studies approaches to the American cultural imaginary ......................................... 7 1.2. A land of opportunity: The shared ideal of the American Dream ......................................... 8 1.3. The Pursuit of Happiness .................................................................................................................. 10 1.4. The rules of individualism and its place in the political spectrum ........................................ 11 1.5. Telling and re-telling the American cultural narrative ............................................................. 13 1.6. The story and mythology of Lost .................................................................................................... 17 1.7. Locating Lost: Contextual connections to philosophy and literature ................................... 19 2. “Each one of us was brought here for a reason”: A juxtaposition of Lost and American individualist beliefs .............................................................................................................. 21 2.1. Description of the scene ................................................................................................................... 22 2.2. Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 24 3. Before the United States: Early individualist thinkers ........................................................ 30 3.1. Thomas Hobbes and the Leviathan ............................................................................................... 31 3.2. John Locke and the concept of property ...................................................................................... 36 3.3. Enacting individualism: The Puritan migration ........................................................................ 39 4. “Men of Science, Men of Faith”: Building the foundations of society ............................ 41 4.1. Building a nation ................................................................................................................................. 42 4.1.1. Uniting the States: The foundation of the American nation ................................................ 42 4.1.2. Uniting the people: Nation-building in Lost ............................................................................ 48 4.2. Building a myth ................................................................................................................................... 52 5. Colonization as an expression of individualism ....................................................................... 61 5.1. The island as West: The American Frontier and the significance of location ................... 62 5.2. “Just like the rest of them”: Individualism as superiority over the Other ........................... 65 Individualism in American Culture 3 5.3. An empire of liberty: Modern colonialism and the diversification of individualism ................................................................................................................................................ 72 6. Lost in context: America’s contemporary individualist society ................................ 76 6.1. Taking sides: Politics and independence ...................................................................................... 76 6.2. The lure of the challenge: Capitalism as an expression of American identity .................. 79 6.3. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do”: Faith and free will ................................................................. 82 7. Hyperrealism and individualist storytelling ....................................................................... 87 7.1. The monopoly on knowledge: Storytelling in Lost ................................................................... 87 7.2. The reality of fiction ........................................................................................................................... 90 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 93 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 95 Works cited and consulted .................................................................................................................... 95 Online sources ............................................................................................................................................ 97 Films, episodes from television series, and other visual materials ............................................... 97 Images and figures ...................................................................................................................................... 99 Deutschsprachige Zusammenfassung .................................................................................................... 100 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................................................ 102 4 Lukas Chatzioannidis Preface I was inspired to write this paper by discussions my father and I had with my uncle, who left Greece to go to university in the Southern United States during the 1970s. After he finished his studies, he settled down in Birmingham, Alabama, bought a restaurant and started a family there. After the 2008 presidential election, European media enthusiastically reported Barack Obama’s victory, and so my father called my uncle, expecting him to be happy about the result. As it turned out, he was furious: He feared that Obama would run down the economy and claimed that this could mean the end for his business. My father had a hard time understanding how he – coming from a European background – could support Obama’s rival candidate John McCain, whose strongly individualist policies seemed unacceptable for many people on this side of the Atlantic. Even before that phone call, conversations with my uncle had revealed opinions which could be considered atypical for someone born and raised in Europe. I noticed small differences, such as the fact that he rejects the use of public transportation, claiming he does not want to be dependent on another driver, and that his own car is more reliable than buses. He insists on making every decision concerning his business himself, and does not want to hire assistants even though this means exposing himself to much more pressure. He raises his children to be more competitive than most of my family members, having them enter soccer tournaments and other competitions, and proudly shows off their trophies whenever we visit. As I have been thinking about these anecdotes, I have come to the realization that – seen from my European point of view – all of these attitudes seem to have in common a very ‘American’ mind-set. They value success highly, and seem to place the individual above society as a whole. They touch upon both public and private life, informing the way my uncle conducts business, makes political decisions, and educates his children: From my perspective, it appears that his entire life is influenced by an overarching individualist ideology he has acquired after his move to the United States. Therefore, in this paper I intend to find out how individualism shapes American life, investigate its place within American history, and find examples of how it is expressed today. Individualism in American Culture 5 Introduction Few things are common to all citizens of the United States of America: Being a nation composed of people whose origins can be traced back to every part of the world, the United States comprise a wide range of cultures and ethnicities. One important shared aspect, though, is the cultural imaginary which has brought people together since its inception: the ideal of the American Dream. This idea, and the meaning it encompasses, serves as a common reference point which informs opinions and actions taken in all parts of daily American life. The notion of individualism is represented very strongly throughout this set of concepts. Ever since the founding of the nation, the belief in the power and potential of the individual has been one of its central values, and its importance has led to the establishment of many myths and practices perceived as ‘typically American’. In this paper, I will argue that individualism, canonized as an American ideal through the Founding Documents, in particular the clear statement given by the Declaration of Independence, forms the basis