- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Counterculture and trauma: The iconography and essence of the 1968 Olympics, 2021
- Creator:
- Baker, Mark E.
- Date of Original:
- 2021-05
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- born digital
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The premise of this study is centered around iconography, and that ultimately is the heart of the issue. Classically speaking, the definition of iconography is visual imagery used in various art forms and the interpretation of them. However, this study is also calling for the broadening of this traditional definition to include cultural transmutation, as it applies to moments in history that have the power to alter the trajectory of American society. These moments in history become iconic because what gives them power is the Judeo Christian, or light vs darkness narrative that undergirds the entire civilization. Certain theological narratives like David vs Goliath, Jesus vs the Romans, or Moses vs the Egyptians set the stage for the type of society that would recognize certain events that speak to specific good vs evil battles. This is the fabric that is woven into the foundation of American civilization. These types of events are iconic, or a study in iconography, due to their ability to sear itself into the American collective consciousness. The purpose of this study is to further the conversation on oppression, trauma from oppression, civil rights, counterculture, and iconography by using as a case study the black power demonstration at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. With all of its audacity, the black power demonstration, which spoke to the problem of American racial exclusivity plaguing the country since its inception, has always been labelled as iconic. What it has not been labelled as, psychologically speaking, is an exercise in communicative dysfunction. This study also aims to further the conversation in this regard, to take the psychoanalytical approach and consider the varying degrees of trauma and how they alter effective communication in both the person and populace. Furthermore, to understand the complexities of racism and other societal ills that plagued America in the 1960s, the racial history of the 1960s was examined along with the psychological effects of trauma from oppression and sought to understand both how and why the populace reacted to certain oppressions the way that they did.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2021_baker_mark_e
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Original Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
