OK, here's my list:
Political History, Negative: Hitler/Stalin (worse than Hitler, but he was America's ally, so less neg. press)
Political History, Neutral: Mao
Political History, Positive: JFK, MLK
Exploration: Armstrong
Music: Coltrane/Davis, Jay-Z, Beatles, Michael Jackson
Art: Salvador Dali, Maybe Pollock
Religion: Eliade
Science: Einstein, Dolly the Sheep, Watson and Crick (DNA guys)
Philosophy: Foucault and Jung along with Steinem, Sartre and Said
Technology: Bill Gates
Culture: Michael Jordan, Star Wars (totally camp by that point!)
Literature: Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, Conrad, and Stephen King.
And here was my reasoning/original post before i streamlined it for readability:
well, the first person i thought of that i knew was active in the 1400s was leonardo davinci. even with the cc hint, it took a couple minutes to get christopher columbus.
so what made davinci memorable? his all-around contributions? his ingenuity in science? his impact in art?
if we break it down, the most memorable scientific mind from the 20th century is einstein, so I'm guessing he'll be remembered. Elementary students will learn copernicus, gallileo, newton, einstein, xxxx, xxxx. In addition, I'm guessing the field of genetics and human biology, which really started in the 20th centry, will be huge, so gotta give props to watson and crick as well as dolly the sheep.
in terms of art, the main 20th century art explosion was in cinema. but does one person stand out to be remembered 500 years from now? i'm not sure, especially with how technology changes the appreciation of movies incredibly rapidly. Perhaps Coppola or Scorcese though, but i doubt it. So perhaps Jackson Pollock will still be remembered the way we remember Rembrandt, van gogh, davinci, michalangelo, and other visual artists from history.
ooh, scratch that. in 500 years kids will still be learning about Salvador Dali in art class.
Bill Gates comes to mind, in terms of technological significance. Of course, with the way technology explodes, he'll probably be remembered like we remember gutenburg for the printing press.
Music seems to last through the centuries. For monumental music acheivement, I'd say Miles Davis/John Coltrane could stick as Jazz Heroes, Jay Z probably has the largest, most expansive hip-hop library, Michael Jackson for archaic "20th century pop" and the Beatles. Kind of like how we sometimes throw on a Mozart opera to relax.
Glancing through wikipedia for the 15th century, I noticed Joan of Arc. We don't really have such military folk heroes anymore, but i could see Michael Jordan's name sticking around and being remembered for his all-around cultural impact.
The greatest literature of any century is also remembered, so let's see. Really hard to say. Someone made a great call with Rowling's work (kind of an equivalent to Brothers Grimm or something). But there have been many great, monumental writers. Who will stick as literary masters that will be remembered like we remember cervantes, Dante, Milton, Dickens, Bronte, et al? I'd guess they will come from this list:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Proust, Vonneguet, Gunter Grass, Hemmingway, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot, Kafka, Fitzgerald, Faulker, Steinbeck, Aldous Huxley, Orwell, Tolkein, Asimov/Heinlen, Joseph Conrad, kipling, Kerouac, Rushdie, Pynchon, Steven King, Bradbury, Cormac McCarthy, Camus, Nabakov, Margaret Atwood, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Borges, and Neruda, to throw out a large but incomplete list.
Most of the great lasting russian lit. seems to be from the 19th century (tolstoy, pushkin, chekov, dostoevsky). There are some great great 20th century writers (bulgakov, bely, pasternack). Solzhenitsen may be remembered in conjunction with the holocaust.
Obviously great writers will be remembered when studying literary history (so bulgakov, bely, pasternack and nabakov will be rememebered in college historical lit. classes, i'm sure) but it's hard to narrow down the above list and pick the ones that will stick in general, especially since I have little to no clue as to what will be popular in China, Japan, among Spanish speakers, etc. But I'm going to go with: Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, Conrad, and Stephen King.
What about Religion? Have to think that various faiths will still be around, and they remember their own history well. I think that in terms of Christianity, Mircea Eliade will be remembered (though I find major fault with most of his writings, I think his theology will have long-lasting roots within theological settings.)
Philosophers are generally remembered. I think that the most important philosopher of the 20th century was Foucault, but Edward Said, Sartre, and Jung have as good or better chances of sticking, especially Jung. I'd include someone like Gloria Anzaldua, bell hooks, or Gloria Steinem as well, for their contributions in feminist philosphy and the major changes in gender dynamics this past century. I'll go with Steinem because i think she is the best known.
Topic: in 500 years who will be remembered from the 20th (Read 25502 times)