What 'cultural' approach of electricity history?
Creators
- 1. Centre national de la recherche scientifique - CNRS, Institut d'Histoire du Temps Present - IHTP (France)
Description
The evolution of electricity consumption should be related to social and cultural change. To understand this change better, we should use the notion of 'mentalities', which is less vague than 'culture' and permits us to include practices in a dynamic totality. It is true that the study of consumers is difficult since they do not appear much in business archives. We must study the literature, advertisement and art of the time. Electricity was given its fairy status by the press. Before 1914, many myths, both frightening and reassuring, circulated around this form of energy. It is only during the Inter-war period that electricity had been degraded from the status of goddess to the one of maid. And yet, it did keep its double aspect of a soft and dangerous form of energy, as shown by its mid-1970's marriage to nuclear energy. A comparative cultural history of electricity remains to be done
Availability note (English)
Available from doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/ahe.002.0139Additional details
Additional titles
- Original title (French)
- Quelle approche 'culturelle' de l'histoire de l'electricite?
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.3917/ahe.002.0139;
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Annales Historiques de l'Electricite
- Journal Volume
- 1
- Journal Issue
- no.2
- Journal Page Range
- p. 139-145
- ISSN
- 1762-3227
INIS
- Country of Publication
- France
- Country of Input or Organization
- France
- INIS RN
- 48084519
- Subject category
- S99: GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS;
- Descriptors DEI
- ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY; ELECTRICITY; HISTORICAL ASPECTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY; SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
- Descriptors DEC
- ENERGY; INDUSTRY; INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS