Rosaldo’s Theory of Imperialist Nostalgia explains, among other things, how a group of people can remove themselves from a situation in order to conceal guilt. This accompanies people mourning for what they destroyed themselves. This process establish innocence while still bragging about what has been done. Imperialist nostalgia also allows the guilty party to become “impartial detached observers” (121) and helps to conceal guilt (109). Rosaldo’s theory of imperialist nostalgia explains the removing and concealing guilt shown in Slotkin’s article, “The Significance of the Frontier Myth in American History, Housman’s novel, Riding the Trail of Tears, and Shohat and Stam’s article, “The Imperial Imaginary.” Slotkin’s article addresses the symbol
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As they take part in the roleplaying simulator, they are relegated to detached observers who feel no guilt for their ancestors’ roles in the events. Passengers in the novel participate in the Trail of Tears simulator as an entertaining activity, without seeing the connection between their engagements and the actual horror of the event that they are simulating. Rosaldo explains their actions as “attempting to establish one’s innocence and at the same time talk about what one has destroyed” (108). This recalls imperialist nostalgia because the visitors reenact and retell a terrible event, without acknowledging how they are glorifying the white characters and inadvertently bragging about what has been done. In creating the ride, the narrator questions the accuracy of the ride, saying, “what truly happened between May 1838 and July 1839? And more importantly for the TREPP, how could it be transformed into a user-friendly, consumer-driven ride?” (Hausman 174). Even characters in the book recognize the flaws, but acknowledge that the telling of this story has been shifted to be more user-friendly and allows for imperialist nostalgia through less participant
As they take part in the roleplaying simulator, they are relegated to detached observers who feel no guilt for their ancestors’ roles in the events. Passengers in the novel participate in the Trail of Tears simulator as an entertaining activity, without seeing the connection between their engagements and the actual horror of the event that they are simulating. Rosaldo explains their actions as “attempting to establish one’s innocence and at the same time talk about what one has destroyed” (108). This recalls imperialist nostalgia because the visitors reenact and retell a terrible event, without acknowledging how they are glorifying the white characters and inadvertently bragging about what has been done. In creating the ride, the narrator questions the accuracy of the ride, saying, “what truly happened between May 1838 and July 1839? And more importantly for the TREPP, how could it be transformed into a user-friendly, consumer-driven ride?” (Hausman 174). Even characters in the book recognize the flaws, but acknowledge that the telling of this story has been shifted to be more user-friendly and allows for imperialist nostalgia through less participant