Microcosmic World And Popular Culture:the Research Into U.s.national Zoological Park Between The Late 19^th And Early 20^th Century In Multidimensional Perspectives

This dissertation examines the socio-cultural history of U.S.National Zoological Park between the late 19 th century and early 20 th century.In 1874,with the Philadelphia Zoo officially opening to the public,the American modern zoos entered the public view.After that,several urban zoos successively appeared,but most of them still had the traditions of menageries.It was not until that the U.S.National Zoological Park was established for the purpose of protecting the endangered wildlife and promoting the scientific education,which marked the maturity of U.S.modern zoos.As a peculiar public space where “civilization” and “nature” blended together,on the one hand,the National Zoo gradually became the new favorite and public stage of the people in capital and began to emerge in the daily life of the public;on the other hand,as one of the most unique existence in the family of American zoos,the National Zoo can more fully reflect the complex facets of American society during the Progressive Era and to a certain extent influence what everyone thought and did under the dual effect of “state” as well as the co-shape of “national” and “local”.Even so,if we continue to use the traditional method of studying the institutional history from a single perspective and scrutinize the zoos from top to bottom,the zoos would lose their original vividness and stereoscopic feeling.Therefore,with the help of the review of historiography,we are able to stand on the academic vein of transitional research of zoo history since the 1990 s,absorb and draw lessons from the achievements in domestic and foreign academia,and adopt the research paths of new cultural history and microhistory,which aims to comprehensively make the “thick description” to National Zoo in multidimensional perspectives.In doing so,this thesis will concentrate on the animal collection,public experience and animal condition,and then intertwine the park management and the public participation.By presenting the various images of the National Zoo in the minds of specific individuals and different groups,it will focus on analyzing the internal relationships between the National Zoo and the national identity,citizenship,popularization of knowledge,rational recreation,conceptions of nature,and humanitarianism during the transformative period of the United States.Since the beginning of its establishment,the National Zoo had been devoted to building the animal collection network covering the whole world.And there were scientists,government officials,military officers,amateur naturalists,pet feeders,novelty hunters,circus owners,and animal dealers participating in weaving this network,with their own different ideas and motivations.From academic scientists to naturalistic amateurs,from pet breeders to novelty hunters,from Barnum to Hagenbeck,from Yellowstone to Alaska,from Washington,D.C.to the Panama Canal,and from Venezuela to Australia,there were varieties of social groups who held different social roles and status together participating in the construction of this cross-class and trans-regional animal collection network for their own purposes.Through the flow of species,various conceptions of different individuals on nation-state,nature,and zoos in a specific era converged on the National Zoo,which resulted in the commonality and complexity of this space.Through the interactions in the animal collection network,the images of the National Zoo in people’s hearts began to emerge,the bond between public and zoo was formed,and the historical writing of the social and cultural connotation of the National Zoo gradually became colorful.However,for the vast majority of Washingtonians at that time,the National Zoo was a completely new thing.If the National Zoo began to walk into the public view through the interaction of the animal collection network,the zoo could really “fly into the homes of ordinary people” through the dual public experience of rationality and sensibility.Since the National Zoo officially opened the doors in the spring of 1891,from inside to the outside of the park,from Washington,D.C.to all parts of America,the National Zoo had been integrated into the popular culture of the United States in many ways.Whether the popularization of scientific knowledge or the satisfaction of leisure demands,the National Zoological Park not only shaped its own image and status,but also subjectively affected the lifestyle and thinking of the people of the time when interacting with the whole public.On the one hand,with the help of travel guidebooks,interpreters,newspapers,and letters,the National Zoo injected the essence of popular zoology into the way of thinking and scientific quality of the public.On the other hand,it relied on the lovely but unruly wildlife as well as the extraordinary natural landscape to become the unique business card of the capital of the United States.In this way,the National Zoo incorporated the dual image of knowledge dissemination and emotional experience into the everyday life of Americans in the transitional period.The animal condition that was linked to both animal collection and public experience is another dimension of investigation.It was true that mankind cannot accurately understand what the wildlife in the zoo think,but in their imaginary and conceptual world these wild animals living in the “urban jungles” were in quite different situations.They used the discourses of “protection” and “harmness” to shape the dual image of the National Zoo of “heaven” and “hell”.At the same time,this “self-contradictory” image also objectively reflected and acted upon the real situation of the animals in the park.As an urban public space,the National Zoo seemed to be a “common ground” for animal protectionists and animal activists.Starting from their own standpoints,they took the animal condition as their responsibility,created complex and diverse living environments of zoo animals,and shaped a socio-cultural image of the National Zoo which was full of tensions.The two seemingly contradictory paradoxes actually shared a common internal logic and pursuit,namely the protection of animals.The point was the former paid more attention to the preservation and conservation of species,while the latter were more concerned about the safety and feeling of individuals.As a result,this “paradox” not only promoted the development of the wildlife protection movement,the early animal welfare movement,and animal rights movement during the Progressive Era,but embodied the construction of the American national identity as well as the transformation of humanism which originated from the Age of Enlightenment.Therefore,the National Zoo had a deeper socio-cultural and environmental connotation.