Martwa ręka Wielkiego Kryzysu. O maratonach tanecznych oraz spektaklach śmierci i przetrwania
The Dead Hand of the Great Depression. On Dance Marathons and Spectacles of Death and Survival

Summary/Abstract: The article’s main subject is the complex mechanism of observation and participation in the spectacles of sadism and cruelty prevalent during the Great Depression in the United States. A particular focus was given to They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? By Horace McCoy among other literary and art cases. Literary narratives focused on dance marathons are analyzed, apart from a literary-critical perspective, in the light of the history of theater and entertainment, and the history of economics. An in-depth presentation of the circumstances of the economic crisis allows us to see the dynamics of changes in literary conventions (including Hollywood narratives) as part of the historical-literary process, as well as the collapse of the American narrative about success and liberation through a career in the entertainment industry. The article proposes to consider cultural representations of the dance marathon as a sadistic spectacle in which the suffering of others becomes a shortterm entertainment – enabled by a clear division between participants and spectators, and the common understanding of the competition as a springboard to success in Hollywood. Tracing the collapse of this narrative (as well as the lethality of this promise) is an essential point in the essay’s conclusion.

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