Tangible imaginations : community, print culture, and American identity in Philadelphia, 1764-1776
My doctoral project examines the role that serials and printed ephemera played in animating ordinary Philadelphians into revolutionary action. I am interested in the intellectual life of historically inarticulate peoples, and I argue that the moments of intersection between crowds and texts recorded how American colonists contributed their own thoughts toward erudite theories surrounding representative government, liberty, and commercial networks. The central research question asks: what role did texts play in the transformation of British subjects into dissident Americans? Where earlier studies of the Revolution have emphasized either radical argumentation or revolutionary activity, I show how the material text functioned as a vital intermediary by creating a persuasive ideal of the American identity through the physical ubiquity of colonial prints, the distillation of printed ideas into imitable action, the reiteration of instructive texts through public performances, and a consistent message across all media of the virtue and necessity of an American community. In so doing, the thesis no less crucially explores print materials and modes of reader reception deemed relatively inaccessible in previous studies
O'Donnell, Angel-Luke
E151 United States (General)
Tangible imaginations : community, print culture, and American identity in Philadelphia, 1764-1776. My doctoral project examines the role that serials and printed ephemera played in animating ordinary Philadelphians into revolutionary action. I am interested in the intellectual life of historically inarticulate peoples, and I argue that the moments of intersection between crowds and texts recorded how American colonists contributed their own thoughts toward erudite theories surrounding representative government, liberty, and commercial networks. The central research question asks: what role did texts play in the transformation of British subjects into dissident Americans? Where earlier studies of the Revolution have emphasized either radical argumentation or revolutionary activity, I show how the material text functioned as a vital intermediary by creating a persuasive ideal of the American identity through the physical ubiquity of colonial prints, the distillation of printed ideas into imitable action, the reiteration of instructive texts through public performances, and a consistent message across all media of the virtue and necessity of an American community. In so doing, the thesis no less crucially explores print materials and modes of reader reception deemed relatively inaccessible in previous studies
tangible imagination community print_culture american_identity doctoral project_examine role serial print ephemera play animate ordinary revolutionary action interested intellectual_life historically people argue moment intersection crowd text record american colonist contribute thought toward theory surround representative government liberty commercial network central_question asks role text play transformation british subject americans early study revolution emphasize either radical argumentation revolutionary activity show material text function vital intermediary create persuasive ideal american_identity physical ubiquity colonial print print idea action texts public performance consistent message across medium virtue necessity american community less crucially explore print_material mode reader reception deem relatively previous_study