Question

. What is nationalism? Using at least two examples from Chapter 25 of the text A world of Art; how have the arts been used to construct and critique national identities?

Answer 1

Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism characterized by the development of the feeling of superiority of one’s country over other countries. According to the Nationalists claimed that people sharing the same language, historical experience, and often ethnic identity, made up a nation. One of the great artistic expressions of this sentiment is Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. A bare-breasted Lady Liberty is symbolic of freedom's nurturing power. John Gast illustrated this sense of American national identity in his popular painting American Progress. The Native Americans of the Great Plains, unlike many other tribes, recorded their history in copious detail. Humans are generally stuck figures, and events are described in selective detail. Some tribes, particularly the Lakota Sioux and Kiowa, recorded family or band history in what is known as a "winter count."