From: Vernon Burton
As usual Jane Censer is being too modest. She has an exceptional review in
American Quarterly on the Burns series. This is a must read for all. I
forget the issue, but about a year ago. Vernon Burton
In message Thu, 14 Oct 1993 09:22:00 ECT,
Jane Turner Censer <JCENSE1@GMUVAX.bitnet> writes:
>
>Dear Susan and fellow teachers,
> When "The Civil War" was released, i was interested in possibly using
>it in the classroom and I spent a lot of time watching it, virtually slow mo.
>I came away dizzy but also rather sceptical about it as a teaching aid, unless
>the instructor is willing to use a lot of other materials and significant time
>pointing out Burns's interpretation. I think the single best stand-alone
>Episode is No. 3, "Forever Free." But even in that one, I personally thought
>that Burns's fixation on great men--with Lincoln as the prime example--skewed
>his presentation; the Prelim. Emancip. Procl. comes through as the work of
>Lincoln with little indication of the intense pressure the abolitionists and
>some members of his own party were putting on him in that regard.
>
> I happen to be one of those who believes that you can't teach the
>Civil War without attention to battles and how the war was going. But that
>said, I found "The Civil War" paying too little attention to political,
>intellectual, and social aspects of the war. Many of my research interests
>lie in southern history, and the South comes across virtually as a
>monolith in Burns's films--with little thought given to explaining
>southerners' acceptance of secession or to showing dissent (before the
>closing days of the war).
>
> Despite all these nasty criticisms (and I can come up with more),
>I have to say "The Civil War" is beautifully produced and visually stunning.
>Perhaps if you can, with the help of secondary accounts, other primary
>sources, promote the students' seeing it as an interpretation (rather than
>just a showy montage) and help them see how it differs from others, you
>will have done a lot in promoting critical thinking and close examination
>of texts. But that will take you away from the enjoyment of its beauty,
>and I suspect you will find significant resistance among your students.
>
> The recent AHA Perspectives covered a Boston conference which
>dealt with many of these questions. Perhaps I am overly critical of
>Burns, but I would be interested in seeing the comments of others who
>have taught it (I did see Kelly's) or who have considered it.
>Sincerely, Jane Turner Censer George Mason University