Recollecting La Technique : industrial heritage sites and the rhetoric of technology
Author
Adamczyk, Christopher LeeOther Contributors
Haskins, Ekaterina V., 1969-; Deery, June; Zappen, James Philip; Esrock, Ellen J.; Winner, Langdon;Date Issued
2019-08Subject
Communication and rhetoricDegree
PhD;Terms of Use
This electronic version is a licensed copy owned by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Copyright of original work retained by author.; Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Industrial heritage sites are locations that exemplify both public memory and the rhetoric of technology. In this dissertation, I interpret three examples of industrial heritage sites to identify and characterize their common rhetorical features. Using Lowell National Historical Park, I identify how industrial heritage sites root their rhetoric in the technological sublime. Using the National Museum of Industrial History, I describe how industrial heritage sites invite their guests to orient toward workers’ experiences using textual, visual, and experiential displays. Finally, using Thomas Edison National Historical Park, I identify how industrial heritage sites situate sublime technology and guests-as-workers within a technocratic, national scene. With these three features considered, I then argue that industrial heritage sites, and thus the rhetoric of technology they invoke, can be understood as manifestations of what Jacques Ellul terms la technique. I conclude by suggesting an alternative way to recollect the technological past that draws upon virtue ethics.;Description
August 2019; School of Humanities, Arts, and Social SciencesDepartment
Dept. of Communication and Media;Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NYRelationships
Rensselaer Theses and Dissertations Online Collection;Access
CC BY-NC-ND. Users may download and share copies with attribution in accordance with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. No commercial use or derivatives are permitted without the explicit approval of the author.;Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as CC BY-NC-ND. Users may download and share copies with attribution in accordance with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. No commercial use or derivatives are permitted without the explicit approval of the author.