POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
When I was in graduate school I took a class called the Myth of America. We read works of American literature from the Puritan times all the way to the 20th century, tracing the underlying stories we told ourselves about our country and ourselves. Mostly what I remember was the lectures were like these little religious experiences in and of themselves. We sat huddled in a small classroom scribbling as fast as we could as our professor just let fly with a thousand interesting ideas.
Honestly I don't know what to do with America right now. And it helps to step back away from the smouldering ruins of the last few weeks and think about what we're seeing in a more anthropological way. In fact there are multiple myths of America operative among us, and we are in a time when they are in conflict in a very visible and visceral way.
So what are our myths?
I'm not an anthropologist, but here's one thought:
America as Destiny vs. America as a Crime
The idea of America as a desti…
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