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Item Manifest Americans: the modern-day appropriation of the agrarian myth(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Robinson, Tonya Renee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Susan KollinIn 'Manifest Americans,' I examine the modern-day appropriation of the agrarian myth under neoliberalism and associated sheltering of systemic marginalization and health and environmental hazards. I argue persistent agrarianism rhetoric, perverted by neoliberal realities and devices, lies at the core of these problems. Specific to this neoliberal moment, my conception of neoyeomanship encapsulates the embrace of classic yeomanship dogma and modern neoliberal doctrine towards the realization of Manifest Americans as idealized persons(products) of the agrarian myth--created in the minds of republican agrarians, propelled forward by Manifest Destiny, and consolidated through white settlement and cultivation of stolen Native lands. Manifest Americans believe themselves the backbone of American society and the embodiment of democracy. Neoyeomen as Manifest Americans are the neoliberal reification of the nation's most American Americans. This project also presents a new framework for analyzing the neoliberalization of American society and culture, with emphasis on impacts to agrarian(rural) people and spaces. Specifically, I explore neoliberal cultural production through cultural products which work to either appease or disrupt the agrarian metanarrative in modern society. To accomplish this, I bring together cultural studies and ecocritical approaches as methodology for cultural criticism, with additional consideration of affect theory and nostalgia criticism to read the agrarian myth in this neoliberal age. I also introduce my concept of perverse nostalgia. Perverse nostalgia explains how simple nostalgia, which normally works to mitigate disruptions in meeting core human needs, becomes perverted by neoliberal realities, which in turn creates discontinuity and exacerbates existential fears, resultantly triggering perverse nostalgia for an idealized(mythical) past--an America made great again. 'Manifest Americans' also expands myth criticism. Their overt exceptionalist associations notwithstanding, enduring American myths play a crucial role in projecting, informing, and affirming dominant modern-day ideologies and identity(ies). Far from being mired in history, American myths are well-evidenced in modern society and help us to understand and explain the nation's complex ideologies and longings for an idealized(mythical) past. This is particularly true concerning the agrarian myth, which has largely evaded criticism and condemnation. The agrarian myth is alive and well in neoliberal America--and hides a multitude of sins.Item Common ground: finding an American aesthetic in ceramics through the history of wilderness and ceramic art in America(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2021) Botelho Alvarez, Alejandro Manuel; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Josh DeWeeseMy quest to find a unifying principle that constitutes 'American ceramics' has led me to survey the histories of studio ceramics in America and Wilderness and Nature in America. I've discovered resounding similarities between the two: both were responses to a flagging sense of identity and a hope to (nostalgically) confirm and promote certain values and worldviews (over others). Both our relationships with nature and American studio ceramics are monolithic in their founding ideals and have persisted into the 21st century; both have been fundamental in my upbringing and have codified my own worldview. However, I've become sensitive to the fact these particular values are rooted in privilege, are fundamentally exclusionary, and are ripe for a reexamination. In this paper I propose that we revisit the bearing of the values that wilderness and the aesthetic judgements of ceramics in the early 20th century have on society today. It does not mean that these traditions should be totally abandoned. Instead, I am convinced that a more pluralistic and inclusive approach to both is a more holistic way forward. By appraising the histories of wilderness and ceramics in America I hope to uncover some of the unrecognized people and cultures that have been deliberately redacted from the history. In so doing, I expect to find similarities and trends within the existing canon that are commonly celebrated and introduce the forgotten traditions back into the fold, such that it might lead to a new vision for American ceramics. In conclusion, I hope that this rediscovered American aesthetic might be the framework in which I create my own body of work, with a particular appeal towards process rather than form, as a criterion of excellence. With an understanding that American studio pottery has many different traditions to pull from that are still being 'digested', but that these diverse inspirations is not a weakness, but a strength.Item Authoring a city : a rhetorical exploration of spatial practices and gentrification in San Francisco(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2015) Grimm, Kayla Kristine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kirk BranchThe rhetoric of gentrification is problematically rooted in a perceived "us" versus "them" divide. Those writing and talking about the process of gentrification perpetuate the belief in easily identifiable categories pitting "authentic" long-term residents against elite newcomers. Gentrification inherently promotes the homogenization and commodification of a culturally diverse urban space. However, the insistence of portraying such a transformation in oversimplified oppositions ignores the multiplicity of experiences involved. In this thesis, I examine narratives of San Francisco that both shape and contest the reductive discourse currently mapped onto the gentrification process. I argue for a collaborative understanding of authorship, of both texts and the city-as-text, to demonstrate how identities, boundaries, and binaries that may seem clear cut and uncontested are, in actuality, fluid and changing. Narratives of San Francisco cannot be studied for truth or falsity of experience, but can instead provide insight into the cultural construction of experience. A relational view of authorship and place-based identity formation renders sites of contention visible while creating a more in-depth approach for discussing the complex social process of gentrification.