Material Modernisms: A Cultural Investigation

Ellmann, Maud

This book offers an entertaining study of the facts and fantasies associated with the vacuum cleaner as it evolved from a luxury gimmick to a household necessity. The iconic appliance of twentieth-century domestic revolution, the vacuum cleaner stands at the forefront of radical changes in technology, automation, finance, marketing, hygiene, infrastructure, time-management, domestic labour, and the history of dirt. This appliance also insinuates itself into the dominant phobias of the period, including totalitarianism and nuclear war. Maud Ellmann shows how modern literature, art, and other media have transformed this humble domestic mod con into a curmudgeon, windbag, cannibal, vampire, dictator, infanticidal mother, freedom fighter, mantrap, and lothario.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2024-12-23

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783031763885

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-56666-0

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 120