Power Lines
Electricity in American Life and Letters, 1882-1952
Reeks: Inside Technology
Jennifer L. Lieberman
- How
- electricity
- became
- a
- metaphor
- for
- modernity
- in
- the
- United
- States,
- inspiring
- authors
- from
- Mark
- Twain
- to
- Ralph
- Ellison.At
- the
- turn
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- electricity
- emerged
- as
- a
- metaphor
- for
- modernity.
- Writers
- from
- Mark
- Twain
- to
- Ralph
- Ellison
- grappled
- with
- the
- idea
- of
- electricity
- as
- both
- life
- force
- (illumination)
- and
- death
- spark
- (electrocution).
- The
- idea
- that
- electrification
- created
- exclusively
- modern
- experiences
- took
- hold
- of
- Americans'
- imaginations,
- whether
- they
- welcomed
- or
- feared
- its
- adoption.
- In
- Power
- Lines,
- Jennifer
- Lieberman
- examines
- the
- apparently
- incompatible
- notions
- of
- electricity
- that
- coexisted
- in
- the
- American
- imagination,
- tracing
- how
- electricity
- became
- a
- common
- (though
- multifarious)
- symbol
- for
- modern
- life.Lieberman
- examines
- a
- series
- of
- moments
- of
- technical
- change
- when
- electricity
- accrued
- new
- social
- meanings,
- plotting
- both
- power
- lines
- and
- the
- power
- of
- narrative
- lines
- in
- American
- life
- and
- literature.
- While
- discussing
- the
- social
- construction
- of
- electrical
- systems,
- she
- offers
- a
- new
- interpretation
- of
- Twain's
- use
- of
- electricity
- as
- an
- organizing
- metaphor
- in
- A
- Connecticut
- Yankee
- in
- King
- Arthur's
- Court,
- describes
- the
- rhetoric
- surrounding
- the
- invention
- of
- electric
- execution,
- analyzes
- Charlotte
- Perkins
- Gilman's
- call
- for
- human
- connection
- in
- her
- utopian
- writing
- and
- in
- her
- little-known
- Human
- Work,
- considers
- the
- theme
- of
- electrical
- interconnection
- in
- Jack
- London's
- work,
- and
- shows
- how
- Ralph
- Ellison
- and
- Louis
- Mumford
- continued
- the
- literary
- tradition
- of
- electrical
- metaphor.Electrical
- power
- was
- a
- distinctive
- concept
- in
- American
- literary,
- cultural,
- and
- technological
- histories.
- For
- this
- reason,
- narratives
- about
- electricity
- were
- particularly
- evocative.
- Bridging
- the
- realistic
- and
- the
- romantic,
- the
- historical
- and
- the
- fantastic,
- these
- stories
- guide
- us
- to
- ask
- new
- questions
- about
- our
- enduring
- fascination
- with
- electricity
- and
- all
- it
- came
- to represent.
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