American Culture in the 1950s

American Culture in the 1950s
Author: Martin Halliwell
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2007-03-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0748628908

This book provides a stimulating account of the dominant cultural forms of 1950s America: fiction and poetry; theatre and performance; film and television; music and radio; and the visual arts. Through detailed commentary and focused case studies of influential texts and events - from Invisible Man to West Side Story, from Disneyland to the Seattle World's Fair, from Rear Window to The Americans - the book examines the way in which modernism and the cold war offer two frames of reference for understanding the trajectory of postwar culture. The two core aims of this volume are to chart the changing complexion of American culture in the years following World War II and to provide readers with a critical investigation of 'the 1950s'. The book provides an intellectual context for approaching 1950s American culture and considers the historical impact of the decade on recent social and cultural developments.

Cold War Narratives

Cold War Narratives
Author: Andrea Carosso
Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Incorporated
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2012
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9783034312707

<I>Cold War Narratives reveals the power that representations, understood as both cultural production and public discourse, have held in shaping the imaginaries of early Cold War America. By engaging conflicting accounts of the 1950s as either affirmations of a prosperous and confident nation (in TV shows, popular sociology, and advertising) or as critiques of a society in the throes of fear, rebelliousness, and inequality (in film, literature, and media), this study sheds new light on the ambivalent imaginaries of the American 1950s.<BR> Pitting visions of the Red Scare and of nuclear proliferation against narratives of an upbeat nation, eager to suburbanize and to adopt the new ethics of televised consensus, <I>Cold War Narratives illustrates how America's leading metaphors of conformity shaped problematic gender roles, domesticity and consumption in the 1950s. It also exposes how dissenting voices to the Cold War consensus converged around the affirmation of specific identitarian discourses, especially highlighting the agency of youth and of the rising civil rights movement, and the way in which these two entered into unprecedented dialog through new discursive formations such as beat culture and rock 'n' roll.

The 1950s

The 1950s
Author: James S. Olson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2018-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1440861331

This volume serves as an invaluable guide to key political, social, and cultural concepts of the 1950s. This volume covers the entire decade of the 1950s, from the uneasy peace following World War II to the beginnings of cultural discontent that would explode in the 1960s. It highlights key historical, social, and cultural elements of the period, including the Cold War and perceived communist threat; the birth of the middle class and establishment of consumer culture; the emergence of the civil rights movement; and the normalization of youth rebellion and rock and roll. An introduction presents the historical themes of the period, and an alphabetical encyclopedic entries relating to period-specific themes comprises the core reference material in the book. The book also contains a range of primary documents with introductions and a sample Documents Based Essay Question. Other features are a list of "Top Tips" for answering Documents Based Essay Questions, a thematically tagged chronology, and a list of specific learning objectives readers can use to gauge their working knowledge and understanding of the period.

The Twilight of the American Enlightenment

The Twilight of the American Enlightenment
Author: George Marsden
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2014-02-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465069770

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country's secular, liberal elites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents, paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm new moral vision -- one rooted in the Protestant values of the founders. A groundbreaking reappraisal of the country's spiritual reawakening, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment shows how America found new purpose at the dawn of the Cold War.

It Came From the 1950s!

It Came From the 1950s!
Author: Darryl Jones
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0230337236

An eclectic and insightful collection of essays predicated on the hypothesis that popular cultural documents provide unique insights into the concerns, anxieties and desires of their times. 1950s popular culture is analysed by leading scholars and critics such as Christopher Frayling, Mark Jancovich, Kim Newman and David J. Skal.

Larger Than Life

Larger Than Life
Author: R. Barton Palmer
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0813547660

A Volume in the Star Decades: American Culture/American Cinema series, edited by Adrienne L. McLean and Murray Pomerance --Book Jacket.

Lost Revolutions

Lost Revolutions
Author: Pete Daniel
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807848487

Chronicles the events and societal trends that created disturbance and conflict after World War II, discussing school integration, migration into the cities, the civil rights movement, and the breakdown of traditional values.

American Cinema of the 1950s

American Cinema of the 1950s
Author: Murray Pomerance
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2005
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780813536736

Bringing together original essays by ten respected scholars in the field, American Cinema of the 1950s explores the impact of the cultural environment of this decade on film, and the impact of film on the American cultural milieu. Contributors examine the signature films of the decade, including From Here to Eternity, Sunset Blvd., Singin' in the Rain, Shane, Rear Window, and Rebel Without a Cause, as well as lesser-known but equally compelling films, such as Dial 1119, Mystery Street, Suddenly, Summer Stock, The Last Hunt, and many others.

As Seen on TV

As Seen on TV
Author: Karal Ann Marling
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 346
Release: 1996-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674735293

America in the 1950s: the world was not so much a stage as a setpiece for TV, the new national phenomenon. It was a time when how things looked--and how we looked--mattered, a decade of design that comes to vibrant life in As Seen on TV. From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for with a gaze newly trained by TV. A study in style, in material culture, in art history at eye level, this book shows us as never before those artful everyday objects that stood for American life in the 1950s, as seen on TV.

The Feminine Mystique

The Feminine Mystique
Author: Betty Friedan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 366
Release: 1992
Genre: Feminism
ISBN: 9780140136555

This novel was the major inspiration for the Women's Movement and continues to be a powerful and illuminating analysis of the position of women in Western society___