%0 Journal Article
%T The Dead Hand of the Great Depression. On Dance Marathons and Spectacles of Death and Survival
%A Szmidt, Olga
%J Konteksty Kultury
%V 2022
%R 10.4467/23531991KK.22.018.16252
%N Volume 19 Issue 2
%P 222-243
%K Great Depression, narratives of crisis, They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, American literature, dance marathons
%@ 2083-7658
%D 2022
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/konteksty-kultury/article/martwa-reka-wielkiego-kryzysu-o-maratonach-tanecznych-oraz-spektaklach-smierci-i-przetrwania
%X The article’s main subject is the complex mechanism of observation and participation in the spectacles of sadism and cruelty prevalent during the Great Depression in the United States. A particular focus was given to They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy among other literary and art cases. Literary narratives focused on dance marathons are analyzed, apart from a literary-critical perspective, in the light of the history of theater and entertainment, and the history of economics. An in-depth presentation of the circumstances of the economic crisis allows us to see the dynamics of changes in literary conventions (including Hollywood narratives) as part of the historical-literary process, as well as the collapse of the American narrative about success and liberation through a career in the entertainment industry. The article proposes to consider cultural representations of the dance marathon as a sadistic spectacle in which the suffering of others becomes a short-term entertainment – enabled by a clear division between participants and spectators, and the common understanding of the competition as a springboard to success in Hollywood. Tracing the collapse of this narrative (as well as the lethality of this promise) is an essential point in the essay’s conclusion.