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Reactions of American conservatives toward the revisionism of the historical role of Christopher Columbus
Schaepe, Hana ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Kýrová, Lucie (referee)
The thesis focuses on the analysis of the reaction of American conservatives to the impulses for revisionist reinterpretation of the historical figure of Christopher Columbus and his legacy. The thesis places this topic in the context of polarization in the United States and the culture wars. It presents a brief development of reinterpretation attempts, how this view arose, what its rationale is, and how Christopher Columbus is viewed through it. It will briefly summarize the history of this phenomenon, its reinforcement around the quincentennial of Columbus's voyages, and its projection into resonant debates in contemporary American society. Subsequently it will analyze the reaction of conservative-minded Americans to this issue using two focus groups. In the analysis, the thesis will examine representative figures from the groups of politicians and political commentators or authors who address the issue. The thesis will then summarize the analyzed responses into major lines of argument and deduce from them why conservatives take a largely negative view of revisionism, what aspects of reinterpretation bother them, and what they base their positions on. The paper thus asks: What is the response to suggestions for reinterpreting the figure of Christopher Columbus by conservative-minded circles...
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