The Public in Pieces: Representational Crises in Gold-Rush California

Abstract

Analyzes the promise and the ultimate failure of representation as a political and aesthetic practice as evidenced during the California gold rush. Using a contemporary narrative, examines ways the excesses offered by the gold rush brutalize both individuals and the social fabric. Claims this example illustrates the general failure of habits of representation in antebellum America to produce social order by making commensurate the parts with the whole.