Polak, Sara

OUR SYNOPSIS: Sara Polak illuminates “how Franklin Delano Roosevelt became an icon in American memory and, in particular, what role Roosevelt himself played in that process.” (1) She coins and employs the term autofabrication to refer to this relationship between FDR iconography and his own role in shaping it. By examining cultural representations of FDR, she seeks “to understand two things: first, what in the nature of these cultural texts and artifacts makes them so attractive? (How does their beauty work, in aesthetic and rhetorical terms?) Second, which—and whose—desires, needs, and ideologies in the present are served or fulfilled by a particular representation of the past?” (2) The result is a multidisciplinary work incorporating techniques of literary and cultural analysis interspersed with historical practice. It also engages with the fields of memory studies and disability studies. Polak argues that one way FDR crafted his image was by discouraging attention to negative or controversial parts of his story, such as the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. This image-making also involved carefully maintaining delicate balances, for example being perceived as powerful and decisive rather than dictatorial. She also emphasizes that FDR intentionally extended his memory into the lives of future generations, most notably by creating the first presidential library. As one of his most impactful and lasting contributions, the New Deal provides a strong example for understanding his memory. In this case, idealistic presidential rhetoric and personal identification with the program both served to depoliticize its policies at the time and in American memory.