Aesthetics and Empire: The Sense of Feminine Beauty in the Making of the US Imperial Archipelago

• Main Author: Lanny Thompson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2013-12-01
• Series: Culture & History Digital Journal
• Subjects: visuality; colonial desire; photography; archipelagic studies; cuba; hawai`i; philippines; puerto rico
• Online Access: http://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/36

This article examines the “sense of beauty” in the United States imperial archipelago, composed of the island territories of Cuba, Hawai`i, Philippines, and Puerto Rico, all acquired in 1898. The theoretical connection among these two elements –aesthetics and empire– is provided by a revision of the concepts “economy of colonial desire” and “complex of visuality.” This paper analyzes the most advanced visual technology of the late nineteenth century: the mass- produced, printed photograph. In particular, it focuses upon the representations of feminine beauty as found the illustrated “new-possessions” books which described recent island acquisitions of the United States. The connections between aesthetics and the forms of governance in each territory will also be elucidated.