UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title American Liberation Mythologies: Democracy and Domination in U.S. Visual Culture Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3gx7g43c Author Williams, Kathleen Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles American Liberation Mythologies: Democracy and Domination in U.S. Visual Culture A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Culture & Performance by Kathleen Michelle Williams 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION American Liberation Mythologies: Democracy and Domination in U.S. Visual Culture by Kathleen Michelle Williams Doctor of Philosophy in Culture and Performance University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor, Allen F. Roberts, Co-chair Professor David Shorter, Co-chair A myth of liberation saturates the cultural landscape of the United States, structuring the collective consciousness, guiding political action, and disguising the nation’s patterns of domination. This study grew out of a concern over the United States’ engagement in two wars with the stated aims of liberation and the spread of democracy. Anthropological theories of myth assert a reciprocal relationship between political action and creative expression; through myths we reflect upon culture, in culture we enact myths. Popular media is a prominent realm for the creation and performance of contemporary myths. By analyzing performances of popular culture as expressions of the myth of liberation (Bruce Willis’ Tears of the Sun, American Idol, and Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino), this dissertation delineates the parameters of the national myth that declares an identity of the U.S. as liberator to the world’s oppressed, sanctifies the democratic ideal, and valorizes consumer capital. Analyses also reveal a U.S. identity of dominator in the global community, the betrayal of the democratic ideal through the commoditization of the democratic gesture, and the implementation of segregation and ! ""! terrorization to support the exploitation of consumerism. Myths are paradoxical, and this study asserts that U.S. culture exhibits a societal tension between liberty and domination. In the form of popular culture, myths attempt to mediate this social paradox. Drawing from the methodologies and theories of cultural anthropology, folklore, sociology, media studies, performance studies, U.S. history and international relations this dissertation offers insights into four issues of vital importance: the role of the U.S. in globalization, the recent national crisis in democracy, the violence of consumerism, and the dialectical relationship between popular culture and political action. This research is grounded in the anthropological understanding that cultural products are both models of, and models for, cultural action. Following such an understanding, it concludes by asserting, through reference to the variations of the myth explored, that the producers and consumers of culture have the ability to reconstruct the myth of liberation and move U.S. culture out of its socio-historic patterns of violence and domination and toward a mythic construction of creative intervention and cross- cultural dialogue. ! """! The dissertation of Kathleen Michelle Williams is approved. Stephen Aron Donald J. Cosentino Allen F. Roberts, Committee Co-chair David Shorter, Committee Co-chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 ! "#! Table of Contents Introduction …..……………………………………………………………………………………..………………………… 1 Part I: Approaches …....…………………………………………………………………..……………………………….. 9 Chapter 1 – Motivations and Methods …..…………………………….…………………………………. 11 Chapter 2 – Standards of Evaluation …..…………………………….………………………………….. 24 Part II: Myths of Intervention …..………………………………………………..………………………………….. 40 Chapter 3 – The Strongest of Mythic Imperatives ….………….…………………………………… 42 Chapter 4 – Violent Intervention …..………………………….………………………………………….. 55 Chapter 5 – Economic Intervention …...…………………………………………………………………. 67 Part III: Scenarios of Democracy ……………………………………………………………………………………. 80 Chapter 6 – From Discovery to Democracy …..………………………………………………………. 82 Chapter 7 – The Democratization of Television …..………………………………………………… 96 Chapter 8 – Traditional Authority Intervenes ………………………………………………………. 111 Part IV: Dimensions of Liberation ……………………………………………………….……………………….. 129 Chapter 9 – On Semiospace ……………………………………………………………………………….. 131 Chapter 10 – Death of the Gunfighter …………………………………………………………………. 147 Chapter 11 – Dilemmas of the Nation …..…………………………………………………………….. 163 Conclusion …...……………………………………………………………….……………………………………………. 179 Notes and Citations …………………………………………….……………………………………………………….. 185 Bibliography ……………………………………………….………………………………………………………………. 200 ! #! List of Figures W. W. Rostow’s stages of economic development …………………………………………………………….. 63 Semiotic chart of Idol Gives Back …………………………………………………………………………………… 73 Richard Schechner’s model of social and stage dramas …………………………………………………….. 99 ! #"! Acknowledgements I offer special thanks to the mentors, colleagues, family and friends who supported me during the duration of this degree. To David Shorter for his interest in my ideas, constructive criticism, theoretical guidance, and for reminding me of the value of topic sentences. To Al Roberts for teaching me that by examining what people create I can come to understand them better. To Don Cosentino for introducing me to post-modernism and critical theory, and for validating my interest in popular culture. To Steve Aron, for indulging my amateur interest in U.S. history and guiding me toward a more thorough understanding of cultural expansion and national development. To Behroze Shroff, for enriching my encounter with post-colonial theory, literature, and film. To Peter Sellars for inspiring me to make this work an act of love. To the Graduate Division of UCLA for awarding me both a Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship and a Summer Fieldwork and Archival Research Fellowship. To the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance for the unparalleled community that it is. To the many friends and colleagues who kindly cared for my children while I scratched out time for studying and fulfilled my apprenticeship duties: Waewdao Sirisook, Cedar Bough Saeji, Mathew Sandoval, Amanda Harrison, Edy Pickens Levin, Sarah Blahut, Hannah Rothblatt, Youn Mee Woo, John Orcutt, Amy Schwartz, Adam Battaglia, Jennifer Musi, Rahel Woldegaber, Carolina San Juan, Sabela Grimmes, Kingsley Irons, Eva Ayamami, Allison Wyper, and Nguyun Nguyun. To the Collard family and the Camp Trinity community, who welcomed my family to the Bar 717 Ranch where much of this dissertation was written. To the Hyampom Arts Magnet School whose staff educated my children while I occupied their library and wrote. To my parents who never doubted any of my abilities and always encouraged me to follow my interests and dreams. To my husband Jeff for his devotion and constancy as we journey together. ! #""! Vita Education University of California, Los Angeles, MA in African Studies 2006 University of Kansas, BA in African & African-American Studies (Departmental Honors) 2003 University of Kansas, BFA in Design/Metalsmithing 2003 Kenyatta University, Kenya - Study Abroad 2002 Teaching Experience Department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance, University of California, Los Angeles Culture: an Introduction Winter 2011 & Winter 2010 Teaching Fellow to Aparna Sharma Teaching Associate to Donald Cosentino Introduction to World Arts & Cultures Fall 2010 Teaching Associate to David Gere Art as Moral / Social Action Spring 2010, Fall 2009 & Winter 2007 Teaching Associate to Peter Sellars Introduction to American Folklore Studies Winter 2008 & Fall 2007 Teaching Assistant to Kerry Noonan Publications Book Review: Every Woman is a World: Interviews with Women of Chiapas. by Gayle Walker and Kiki Suárez. Edited by Carol Karasik. 2008. Austin: University of Texas Press. Reviewed in “The Journal of Folklore Research” June 18, 2009 Exhibitions “Dear Beavers,” medium: poetry. Read in conjunction with Nick Cave’s Soundsuits. Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles May 22, 2010 “WACtivist Demand Banners 1-4,” medium: fabric. Exhibited at It’s all been done before but not by me. UCLA student exhibit at the Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles April 29, 2010 Presentations and Interviews “Save a Life Tonight, Save the World Tomorrow: the Structural Mythology of Global Poverty in American Idol” – Popular Culture Assoc./American Culture Assoc. Annual Meeting, New Orleans April 2009 ! #"""! “A Divided Nation, United in ‘Idol’ Worship,” – by Kim Masters on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition April 16, 2008 “Democracy TV: an Ethnographic Inquiry into American Idol” – presented at Chew on This, Department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance Lecture Series University of California, Los Angeles January 2008 Community Service Hyampom Arts Magnet School – Hyampom, CA Site Council Member, Literacy Tutor, Substitute 2011- present Department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance, University of California, Los Angeles Chew on This Lecture Series – Committee Member, Outreach Coordinator 2008-2010 Los Angeles Unified School District – via K.O.R.E.H. L.A. Literacy Tutor 2004-2006 Awards University of California, Los Angeles: Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship 2008-2009 Fieldwork & Archival Summer Research Grant 2007 Graduate Fellowship