Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and Historical Visions

by Jim Cullen

Overview

How do perceptions of the past--not just of particular events, but of the trajectory of history as a whole--shape our experience of the world? Sensing the Past tackles this question with an unlikely source of historical insight--the work of six major Hollywood stars: Clint Eastwood, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Jodie Foster. By focusing on the career choices made by these iconic actors, Cullen uncovers a discrete set of historical narratives, revealing the surprising ways historical forces shape our understanding of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199927661
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/09/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jim Cullen teaches history at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City. He is the author of The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation, Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition, and other books. Cullen is also a book review editor at the History News Network. He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One Tending to the Flock: Clint Eastwood, Ambivalent Wanderer
Chapter Two Daniel Day-Lewis and the Frontier in American History
Chapter Three Equal Work: The Mystique of Meryl Streep
Chapter Four Denzel Washington, Affirmative Actor
Chapter Five Team Player: Tom Hanks, Company Man
Chapter Six The Brave One: Jodie Foster, American Loner
Index

Editorial Reviews

As Cullen (Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition) argues in this study, collective ideas and myths about history can be powerful enough to mold on an almost subconscious level a nation’s daily lives. To demonstrate, he discusses the career arcs of six Hollywood stars—Clint Eastwood, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Jodie Foster—and identifies what he calls “master narratives” of U.S. history that gradually emerged from their bodies of work. Cullen’s film analysis is down to earth yet sharp as he teases out common themes among seemingly divergent films. Still, he is not always mindful in adequately explaining the historical narratives themselves, with certain chapters relying too much upon biographical details. When Cullen properly balances analysis and context, the results are quite striking, including an outstanding chapter on the bonds between Day-Lewis’s films and historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s classic frontier thesis. Moreover, while this book is an academic work, Cullen’s approach is accessible as he outlines how historical thinking can work on an everyday level.

Verdict Students of American history and popular culture will benefit from Cullen’s creative scholarship.—Chris Martin, North Dakota State Univ. Libs., Fargo

(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Library Journal

"It's unlikely that many of us have thought to connect Dirty Harry to Thomas Jefferson or Bill the Butcher to Frederick Jackson Turner, but somehow Jim Cullen makes such improbable pairings work in this heartfelt, enlightening book. Writing as both a fervent fan and a serious scholar, he deftly reveals how some of our greatest contemporary movie stars have played an important role as public historians."—Steven Biel, author of American Gothic: A Life of America's Most Famous Painting

"Sensing the Past will change the way readers think about movie stars and American history. Through a series of penetrating profiles, Jim Cullen examines how actors have embodied the central themes of our past and weds them to the present. Every page glistens with insights about actors we admire and movies we think we know."—-Louis P. Masur, author of The Civil War: A Concise History

From the Publisher