American Technological Sublime

by David E. Nye

American Technological Sublime continues the exploration of the social construction of technology that David Nye began in his award-winning book Electrifying America. Here Nye examines the continuing appeal of the "technological sublime" (a term coined by Perry Miller) as a key to the nation's history, using as examples the natural sites, architectural forms, and technological achievements that ordinary people have valued intensely. Technology has long played a central role in the formation of Americans' sense of selfhood. From the first canal systems through the moon landing, Americans have, for better or worse, derived unity from the common feeling of awe inspired by large-scale applications of technological prowess. American Technological Sublime continues the exploration of the social construction of technology that David Nye began in his award-winning book Electrifying America . Here Nye examines the continuing appeal of the "technological sublime" (a term coined by Perry Miller) as a key to the nation's history, using as examples the natural sites, architectural forms, and technological achievements that ordinary people have valued intensely. American Technological Sublime is a study of the politics of perception in industrial society. Arranged chronologically, it suggests that the sublime itself has a history - that sublime experiences are emotional configurations that emerge from new social and technological conditions, and that each new configuration to some extent undermines and displaces the older versions. After giving a short history of the sublime as an aesthetic category, Nye describes the reemergence and democratization of the concept in the early nineteenth century as an expression of the American sense of specialness. What has filled the American public with wonder, awe, even terror? David Nye selects the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the Erie Canal, the first transcontinental railroad, Eads Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, the major international expositions, the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909, the Empire State Building, and Boulder Dam. He then looks at the atom bomb tests and the Apollo mission as examples of the increasing ambivalence of the technological sublime in the postwar world. The festivities surrounding the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986 become a touchstone reflecting the transformation of the American experience of the sublime over two centuries. Nye concludes with a vision of the modern-day "consumer sublime" as manifested in the fantasy world of Las Vegas.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Technology, Philosophy, Cultural, American History, American

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

David E. Nye is Professor of American History at the University of Southern Denmark. The winner of the 2005 Leonardo da Vinci Medal of the Society for the History of Technology, he is the author of Image Worlds: Corporate Identities at General Electric, 1890-1930 (1985), Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880-1940 (1990), American Technological Sublime (1994), Consuming Power: A Social History of American Energies (1997), America as Second Creation: Technology and Narratives of New Beginnings (2003), and Technology Matters: Questions to Live With (2006) published by the MIT Press.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was a fascinating book. I had read about this book several times, and I thought I understood the basic premise. But, like many other books, reading the book was slightly different and more interesting than the references to it made it out to be.

American Technological Sublime by David Nye chronicles how our experience of the sublime has shifted from nature to technology to consumerism. One mistaken understanding I had was around the meaning of sublime. A dictionary definition of sublime would be something like “characterized by nobility; majestic”. Nye is not referring to the dictionary definition of the sublime, but to the definition of the sublime put forth by Edmund Burke and especially Emmanuel Kant. The sublime is an experience of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power, something which is calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion due to its beauty, vastness, or grandeur. These can include events that normally arouse terror such as a hurricane, tornado, or volcanic eruption as long as the viewer is far enough away to view them safely. But they can also include marvels such as Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon. As these examples are intended to show, the sublime was originally something natural. Nye’s book chronicles how the experience of the sublime shifts from nature to the technological.

Originally, in America, the sublime was associated with natural sights such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, but it shifted once our technological prowess enabled us to create such events that technology could create a sublime experience. Nye chronicles these sublime experiences. First there was the railroad, followed by bridges and skyscrapers, then factories, and then electricity. Most of us don’t feel a sense of awe or wonder in the presence of any of these technologies. That is because the technological sublime, unlike the natural sublime, quickly becomes commonplace and then something new needs to be created which can again generate that sense of the sublime in us.

As technologies became more and more powerful and we became more and more used to them, more and more powerful technologies needed to be created to create this experience. But not every attempted technological sublime was a success. The example that Nye uses to highlight this is the atom bomb. The atom bomb could never be disassociated from terror enough to create the sense of the sublime in the public mind. On the other hand, the space program was able to create a new experience of the sublime. For the space program, the launching of a rocket, something which had to be seen in person to be experienced properly, did inspire awe, reverence, and lofty emotion even in those most determined to resist it. The experience was simply too powerful and overwhelmed all spectators.

There is much more that could be written, but that is relatively brief summary. I’ll close with a quote from Nye on the change the technological sublime brought about. “The history of the technological sublime is that of the movement from word to spectacle, from individual to crowd, from nature to the machine, from substance to electric image. Its history records a shift in emphasis from natural to artificial landscapes, a shift that simultaneously transformed the position of the subject in relation to the sublime object.”

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quite comprehensive survey of the American fascination with technological innovation. Covering structures like bridges and skyscrapers, and forms of power including steam, electricity and nuclear reactions, the author makes a a consistent case, and to some degree makes observations about the American character. It's unfortunate that the book was published just as the next wave of technology (the Internet) was becoming popular, because it would have been interesting to see how or whether something as comparatively abstract as information and data would fit with the definition of sublime, or perhaps be, in some way, the ultimate example of the technological sublime (transcending the individual.)

[Whitney Borup · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been ridiculously helpful to me. Explains the transition of the American sublime from the Kantian, natural sublime to the technological and then consumer sublime. I also really like his descriptions of a communal, community-affirming sublime experience (as opposed to the kind of solitary moment Kant talks about). I'm not sure I agree with his conclusions about Las Vegas, but his stuff about the atom bomb and atomic power as a kind of self-destruction rather than self-mastery was especially convincing. I'm so glad I read this one.

[Celluloid Doll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really adored the structure of this, the repetition of fourth of July celebrations throughout American history really functions as an excellent microcosm of the effect of the technological sublime on American culture. I think overall the best chapter is that on the atomic bomb, mostly because I'm so conceptually enraptured by the device itself. I do think the book itself is a little nostalgic in regards the americana of old, it could perhaps be a bit more damming on the exploitation of the sublime within manifest destiny.

[Katrinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes and no; it sometimes felt as if the concept of the sublime got applied to so many things, it spread out into meaninglessness. Interesting to ponder how, as ideas continue to change, those ideas may fade into irrelevance and/or might as well be chunked out into the domain of other, neighboring concepts.

[Anna Ronak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellently written but obviously biased towards American exceptionalism and leaves out significant examples of the technological sublime around the world.