tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post2873702570095086223..comments2024-03-01T10:16:11.283-08:00Comments on AmericanStudies: June 9, 2011: Irony Can Be Pretty Ironic, SometimesAmericanStudierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-32776754215755405992011-06-15T18:04:49.485-07:002011-06-15T18:04:49.485-07:00Hi Mike and Anonymous,
Thanks for the thoughts. I...Hi Mike and Anonymous,<br /><br />Thanks for the thoughts. I think to a degree everybody likes simple and symbolic narratives, so a main key for me in my ongoing work is to find ways to connect some of America's more complex and difficult histories to those kinds of narratives, and thus, in a way, to redefine American values in these new ways. Ideally I see cross-cultural transformation as an example, something that can be pretty simple and symbolic but better reflect the much more complex communal realities and stories behind it. That's the goal, anyway!<br /><br />Thanks,<br />BenAmericanStudierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-92085104541550780432011-06-15T17:43:13.812-07:002011-06-15T17:43:13.812-07:00How do you engage with people who won't or at ...How do you engage with people who won't or at least don't want to listen. As you said in a later post this movement is becoming a church in and of itself and arguing with dogma is incredibly difficult. Usually trying to start this conversation just leads into being called an elitist or out of touch with American values. The ignorance on display here is at best intentional and at worst welcomed with open arms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-56233342609791895762011-06-09T23:41:57.794-07:002011-06-09T23:41:57.794-07:00Great thoughts Ben. Thankfully, I've never rea...Great thoughts Ben. Thankfully, I've never read anything by Barton, and your post has convinced me to not even look him up. I wonder, is there something about conservative Americans that attracts them to these sort of simple, generalized, symbolic narratives? I am genuinely confused by that. I listen to something like Palin's Paul Revere fiasco and am just repelled. But it seems like a lot of people hear a word like "freedom" or "guns" and get all warm and fuzzy inside. I just can't relate, at all.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09883362706059087493noreply@blogger.com