Publication subTitle :The Making of a Cultural Icon
Publication series :Cloth
Author: Anthony F. Arrigo
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Publication year: 2014
E-ISBN: 9780874179545
P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780874179538
P-ISBN(Hardback): 9780874179538
Subject: C0 Social Science Theory and Methodology
Keyword: Hoover Dam (Ariz. and Nev.) -- In art., Hoover Dam (Ariz. and Nev.) -- In popular culture.
Language: ENG
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Description
Anthony F. Arrigo has researched a wide array of primary sources and archival materials to trace the project from its earliest representations in illustrations to the documentary photography of its construction and later depictions of the structure in commercial promotions, fine art photography, and paintings. Analyzing Hoover Dam through the trajectory of imagery across several decades, rather than the narrative of its construction, illuminates the underlying cultural and ecological imperatives in the drive to build it, including the influence of religious doctrine and the American agrarian movement. Arrigo also discusses various portrayals of laborers, women, minority groups, nature, and technology in this imagery. In time, the visual icon of power and domination was commercialized to sell cars, vacations, and more.
Imaging Hoover Dam is an important work in both visual rhetoric and cultural studies. It will also intrigue readers interested in such varied topics as the history of the American Southwest, the Great Depression and the New Deal, social and environmental issues, and American popular culture.