Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero [Paperback]

Marita Sturken (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0822341220 | ISBN-13: 978-0822341222 | Publication Date: November 1, 2007

In Tourists of History, the cultural critic Marita Sturken argues that over the past two decades, Americans have responded to national trauma through consumerism, kitsch sentiment, and tourist practices in ways that reveal a tenacious investment in the idea of America’s innocence. Sturken investigates the consumerism that followed from the September 11th attacks; the contentious, ongoing debates about memorials and celebrity-architect designed buildings at Ground Zero; and two outcomes of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City: the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the execution of Timothy McVeigh.

Sturken contends that a consumer culture of comfort objects such as World Trade Center snow globes, FDNY teddy bears, and Oklahoma City Memorial t-shirts and branded water, as well as reenactments of traumatic events in memorial and architectural designs, enables a national tendency to see U.S. culture as distant from both history and world politics. A kitsch comfort culture contributes to a “tourist” relationship to history: Americans can feel good about visiting and buying souvenirs at sites of national mourning without having to engage with the economic, social, and political causes of the violent events. While arguing for the importance of remembering tragic losses of life, Sturken is urging attention to a dangerous confluence—of memory, tourism, consumerism, paranoia, security, and kitsch—that promulgates fear to sell safety, offers prepackaged emotion at the expense of critical thought, contains alternative politics, and facilitates public acquiescence in the federal government’s repressive measures at home and its aggressive political and military policies abroad.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tourists of History is a fearless guide through the paranoid landscape of contemporary American culture. Marita Sturken brilliantly maps the ways consumerism and tourism offer avenues of comfort in a threatening world at the same time that they become politically disabling. From the responses to the Oklahoma City bombing to the memorials to the Twin Towers, Sturken shows how the American way of mourning and remembering the dead shores up a conviction in a timeless sense of national innocence. This exceptionally timely book reaches deep into the past and will continue to resonate in the future.”—Amy Kaplan, author of The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture

“Tourists of History is a great read: well written, accessible on numerous levels, and driven by a persuasive argument that links tourism, consumerism, and Americans’ understandings of themselves and their history.”—Erika Doss, author of Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities

From the Publisher

"Tourists of History is a great read: well written, accessible on numerous levels, and driven by a persuasive argument that links tourism, consumerism, and Americans' understandings of themselves and their history."--Erika Doss, author of Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822341220
• ISBN-13: 978-0822341222
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > September 11

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The limits of materialism..., February 5, 2008

By 

J. Brown (Santa Ana, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero (Paperback)

Marita Sturken's "Tourists of History" is an enlightening overview about how America dealt with the two most catastrophic events of its recent history - the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 - by wrapping itself in a mantle of kitschy products which tried, but ultimately failed, to bring comfort to the bereaved.
The quintessential object of comfort is the teddy bear, given to children (and adults) affected by these two tragedies (and the sequential wars in Afghanistan and Iraq). These teddies (almost all of them cheaply manufactured overseas) are tasked with the job of saying, "All will be well over time" - a promise that neither they nor anyone else can keep. Nor can a teddy bear tell anyone about the social and political roots of terrorism, both domestic and international. What teddies do best is reinforce the intractable belief that America is innocent: We are the good guys, we have done nothing wrong in the world, how can anyone hate us? Anyone who has paid attention to history knows that America is not and has never been innocent.
Sturken urges us to take a good look at all of American history, and not be mere tourists only interested in the parts that are nice to look at. Buy this book today.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read!, April 6, 2010

By 

M. Thomas (APO, AP) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero (Paperback)

This book was actually required reading for a Communication class in college.

It was a surprisingly interesting and in depth read. I would recommend adding it to your collection.

Definitely enlightens you to how American's react to tragedy, as well as, how our society has grown accustomed to exploiting tragedy.