Narratives and Spaces: Technology and the Construction of American Culture

By David E. Nye

Book Overview

Nye analyzes the transformation of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls into tourist sites, the history of light shows at world's fairs, the New Deal programs designed to provide electricity to rural areas, and the Apollo 11 moon to reveal how the spaces we live in and the technology we use are integral to American identity, and a key part of American self-representation. Nye also turns his attention to the Internet, where technology has not simply transformed space, but created a whole new kind of space, and with it, new stories.
Nye analyzes the transformation of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls into tourist sites, the history of light shows at world's fairs, the New Deal programs designed to provide electricity to rural areas, the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the new narratives of the Internet to reveal how the spaces we live in and the technology we use are integral to American identity, and a key part of American self-representation. In examining the interaction of technology, space, and American narrative, Nye argues against the idea that technology is an inevitable and insidious controller of our lives.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231111975
• ISBN13: 9780231111973
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher