Loading...
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Coronado Heights is a dominant geological feature of the Central Kansas region, rising 300 feet above the surrounding plains. The complex cultural processes that transformed this passive geological feature into a charged visual icon in the cultural geography of Central Kansas is the topic of this thesis. Two key time periods are explored: 1924-1942 during which the Heights were formally designated a historic landmark and public park through both local political efforts and the financial support of the W. PA.; and 1984¬1994, during which the assigned and designated meanings of the Heights were magnified and manipulated by regional artist, folk historians, vernacular users, and ritual visitors to this site. The central argument of this paper is the contention that the cultural meanings of Coronado Heights are constructed from the dialectic interplay of assigned and accumulated meanings, formal and vernacular functions, ritual and recreational uses of the space, national attitudes and regional responses and adaptations to those trends. Special emphasis is placed on the investigation of the visual representations of Coronado Heights and how those regional images represent, in microcosm, national shifts in the aesthetics of, and attitudes toward, the landscape; a shift from the detached, dominating magisterial gaze of the colonizer, to the engaged, interconnected and interdependent view of the participant.
Description
M.A. University of Kansas, American Studies 1994
Date
1994-05-31
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Kansas
Collections
Archive Status
This item contains archived web content.
Files
Loading...
hardy_1994_1556221.pdf
Adobe PDF, 20.09 MB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Coronado Heights, Kansas