Writing with Light: Jacob Riis’s Ambivalent Exposures

College English Nov 2008

Writing with Light: Jacob Riis’s Ambivalent Exposures

Christopher Carter

Abstract

The current interest in multimodal rhetoric was anticipated by Jacob Riis’s social documentary texts and presentations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In contrast with the socialist urban critiques presented by Friedrich Engels, Riis’s work demonstrated profound ambivalence toward the city’s poor. While calling for reform of their living conditions, Riis subjected them to surveillance and depicted them as potential revolutionaries whom the upper classes should fear.

Journal: College English
Published: 2008-11-01
DOI: 10.58680/ce20086744
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Walker (2012)

Charles Abrams vs. Robert Moses: Contested Rhetorics of Urban Housing

Rhetoric Review

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