Main entry:

Blackmore, Lisa, author.

Title & Author:

Spectacular modernity : dictatorship, space and visuality in Venezuela, 1948-1958 / Lisa Blackmore.

Publication:

Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2017]

Description:

xii, 268 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Series:

Illuminations : cultural formations of the Americas series

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-250) and index.
Introduction: Rethinking the Politics and Aesthetics of Modernity -- Part I. Official Libretto -- Telling Stories : The Historiographical Foundations of Military Rule -- Ruling Ideology : Radical Transformations of Space and Body -- Part II. Setting the Scene -- Nation Branding : From Covert Propaganda to Corporate Publicity -- Spectacular Visuality : Enframing the Landscape, Training the Gaze -- Exhibiting Modernity : Cultures of Display and the Dictator's Visionary Gaze -- Part III. Performing Progress -- Subjects on Stage : Organized Walking in Scripted Spaces -- Bringing Progress Home : Modern Mythologies in Daily Life -- Epilogue: Specters of Spectacle.

Summary:

"An analysis of how a decade of military rule in Venezuela produced a dominant ideology of progress so meticulously crafted that to this day audacious Modernist art and architecture and dictatorship are conflated under the term 'modernity'"-- Provided by publisher.
"In cultural history, the 1950s in Venezuela are commonly celebrated as a golden age of modernity, realized by a booming oil economy, dazzling modernist architecture, and nationwide modernization projects. But this is only half the story. In this path-breaking study, Lisa Blackmore reframes the concept of modernity as a complex cultural formation in which modern aesthetics became deeply entangled with authoritarian politics. Drawing on extensive archival research and presenting a wealth of previously unpublished visual materials, Blackmore revisits the decade-long dictatorship to unearth the spectacles of progress that offset repression and censorship. Analyses of a wide range of case studies--from housing projects to agricultural colonies, urban monuments to official exhibitions, and carnival processions to consumerculture--reveal the manifold apparatuses that mythologized visionary leadership, advocated technocratic development, and presented military rule as the only route to progress. Offering a sharp corrective to depoliticized accounts of the period, Spectacular Modernity instead exposes how Venezuelans were promised a radically transformed landscape in exchange for their democratic freedoms"-- Provided by publisher.

ISBN:

9780822964384 (paperback ; acid-free paper)
0822964384 (paperback ; acid-free paper)

Subject:

Dictatorship Social aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Military government Social aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Social change Venezuela History 20th century.
Modernism (Aesthetics) Political aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Art Political aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Architecture Political aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Spectacular, The Political aspects Venezuela History 20th century.
Dictature Aspect social Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
Gouvernement militaire Aspect social Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
Modernisme (Esthétique) Aspect politique Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
Art Aspect politique Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
Architecture Aspect politique Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
Spectaculaire Aspect politique Venezuela Histoire 20e siècle.
HISTORY Latin America South America.
ARCHITECTURE Criticism.
ART Criticism & Theory.
Architecture Political aspects.
Art Political aspects.
Cultural policy.
Politics and government.
Social change.
Architektur
Diktatur
Kulturpolitik
Landesentwicklung
Militärdiktatur
Moderne
Modernisierung
Propaganda
Visuelle Medien
HISTORY / Latin America / South America.
ARCHITECTURE / Criticism.
ART / Criticism & Theory.
Venezuela Cultural policy.
Venezuela Politics and government 1935-1958.
Venezuela Politique et gouvernement 1935-1958.
Venezuela.

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Illuminations (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Holdings:

Location: Library main 296281
Call No.: BIB 242722
Status: Available