Review: This Ecstatic Nation: The American Landscape and the Aesthetics of Patriotism

Yves Laberge

doi:10.5070/g313516327

Abstract

Review: This Ecstatic Nation: The American Landscape and the of By Terre Ryan Ryan, Terre. This Ecstatic Nation: The American Landscape and the of Patriotism. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2011, xv+171 pp. ISBN: 9781558498730, paperback.This new book by Professor Terre Ryan (from Loyola University Maryland) is like a celebration of the U.S. and it starts from a moment in 19th century when the population of the United States fascinated with its environment and its landscapes: an era when Americans, seduced by their country's beauty, fell in love with their (p. 1). Then, the wild American landscapes, as represented in classic and pastoral paintings such as those by Thomas Moran, were idealized and copied, and they naturally became the aesthetic backdrop of expansionist mythology (p. 1). In her reflection on American identity and its construction, Terre Ryan coins this concept as the Manifest Destiny (p. 2). This twofold perspective from the 19th century (landscape mythology) is still fundamental nowadays for Ryan who argues that landscape aesthetics remain so influential in contemporary culture that they may encourage us to view our environment much as expansionist-era boosters viewed it - a stockpile of resources to be exploited or as scenery to be preserved (p. 4).Ryans' linking of images, writings, and American history is what really makes this book special. Starting from there Ryan looks at some of the famous U.S. symbols and places that now constitute the American imagery. She is fully aware of the symbolic role of places such as Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the American nation-building. Reflecting on the power of iconography, she argues that landscape is as much a collection of ideas and values as a book or a law or anything shaped by human imagination... (p. 8). This is how Terre Ryan articulates her concept of Aesthetics of Patriotism to be found in her book's title; in other words, how patriotism emerges from these paintings (p. 9). Her whole book is like a narrative written in the first person, with some analysis and theoretical insight about the deep, symbolic, inner meanings of these images and commemorating places. In fact, Terre Ryan does not blindly reproduce the discourse of the founding fathers and can sometimes be critical towards 19th century mentalities and this legacy of patriotic totems (p. …

Highlights

This new book by Professor Terre Ryan is like a celebration of the U.S landscape and it starts from a moment in 19th century when the population of the United States became fascinated with its environment and its landscapes: “an era when Americans, seduced by their country’s beauty, fell in love with their landscape” (p. 1)
The wild American landscapes, as represented in classic and pastoral paintings such as those by Thomas Moran, were idealized and copied, and they naturally “became the aesthetic backdrop of expansionist mythology” (p. 1). In her reflection on American identity and its construction, Terre Ryan coins this concept as the “Manifest Destiny aesthetics” (p. 2)
The most interesting passages are whenever the author links aspects of the American landscape with previous observations made either by writers or politicians, for example, the 1965 speech about the Highway Beautification Act made by President Lyndon Johnson about the “Natural beauty”, which according to the U.S President “shapes our values” and “molds our attitudes” (p. 68)

Summary

Introduction

Title Review: This Ecstatic Nation: The American Landscape and the Aesthetics of Patriotism Review: This Ecstatic Nation: The American Landscape and the Aesthetics of Patriotism By Terre Ryan Reviewed by Yves Laberge Québec, Canada G1V 0A6

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