American Visions (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Hughes
- First Published: 1997
- Type of Work: Art history
- Time of Work: 1600-1997
- Setting: the United States
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Arts
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Social issues, Art or artists, Future, American Dream, Civil War, Eighteenth century, Loneliness, Progress, Architecture or architects
- Locales: United States
In 1931, while the Great Depression shadowed American life, historian James Truslow Adams published The Epic of America. His book popularized an ambitious and ambiguous concept called the American Dream. Taking that idea to be the nation’s “greatest contribution” to “the thought and welfare of the world,” Adams argued that its credibility depended on a special land and social order, which, together, encouraged prosperity, opportunity, freedom, and equality. Without this American vision, he concluded, “the epic loses all its glory.”
Dreams, landscapes, social...
[The entire page is 2115 words long]
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