Den osänkbara framstegstanken : En idéhistorisk undersökning av Titanic som symbol för framstegstanken.

• Main Author: Helmersson, Markus
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för samhälls- och kulturvetenskap (from 2013) 2020
• Subjects: progressivism; history of ideas; disaster; discourse; cultural studies; Titanic; framstegstanken; paradigm; idéhistoria; katastrof; Walter Lord; hermeneutik; la belle époque; diskurs; History of Ideas; Idé- och lärdomshistoria
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-78861

In this investigation I will go to the bottom of the idea of progressivism by using one of the symbols of its consequences: The Titanic disaster. The purpose is to analyze the claims of Walter Lord, comparing his story with the historical development of the 1900’s and Thomas S. Kuhns theory of paradigm shifts. According to Lord the Titanic disaster changed humans’ view on the world and their place in it, leading to a paradigm shift. By using the method of hermeneutics and critical discourse analysis I will show that Lords claims, depending on the perspective, are somewhat exaggerated. Instead Titanic would become a powerful symbol for the critics of the current paradigm, which is that of progressivism. Even if the Titanic disaster led to some changes, the idea of progressivism has been able to modify and adapt itself, reproducing the current societal paradigm of progressivism.