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American Girl: The Iconographies of Helen Wills
American Girl: Die Ikonografien der Helen Wills
[journal article]
Abstract The 'American Girl' this paper considers is Helen Wills, the top-ranked women’s tennis player from 1927 to 1934. Wills was the subject of numerous narrative and visual representations as well as many self-representations in both words and images. Reading Wills in the context of Henry James's Daisy M... view more
The 'American Girl' this paper considers is Helen Wills, the top-ranked women’s tennis player from 1927 to 1934. Wills was the subject of numerous narrative and visual representations as well as many self-representations in both words and images. Reading Wills in the context of Henry James's Daisy Miller and the popular magazine Gibson Girl, the paper considers the mechanisms by which national symbols are constructed. In particular, it examines the ways in which Wills's style of playing, her clothes, and even her facial expression came to signify a particular version of modern, American femininity (in contrast to that of opponents such as Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Jacobs). It also explores her identity as a white Californian, a neo-classical girl next door, who appealed to Nativists like James Phelan and Gertrude Atherton and whom Diego Rivera placed at the centre of 1931 Allegory of California. In short, Helen Wills proved both a very flexible American symbol and a global celebrity.... view less
Keywords
competitive sports; magazine; visualization; iconology; image; cultural identity; representation; United States of America; symbolism
Classification
Cultural Sociology, Sociology of Art, Sociology of Literature
Free Keywords
Tennis; Helen Wills; national personification; visual representations
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 109-128
Journal
Historical Social Research, 43 (2018) 2
Issue topic
Visualities - Sports, Bodies, and Visual Sources
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.43.2018.2.109-128
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed