ダム建設事業とコロンビア川流域表象史

抄録

The coming of electricity to the Pacific Northwest during World War II was expected to provide new possibilities not only for economic growth but also for social transformation. This paper explores the various aspects of cultural representations of the development of the Columbia River basin, which extends between the states of Oregon and Washington. In the first part of this study, attention is paid to the narrative techniques used in two government-funded promotional films about dam construction produced by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). After examining the rhetorical strategies that were employed in the BPA films to propagate the necessity of river development, our analysis turns to several songs sung and composed by Woody Guthrie, that were included in one of the films. Our discussion foregrounds this curious combination: a politically radical folk singer from the Midwest and a federal power agency rooted in the Northwest. Finally, we analyze several literary works that critically depict the Columbia River development and its aftermath. A careful comparative review of those works reveals the political unconsciousness of the region in the decades after the New Deal.