Description
Book SynopsisThis book charts the changing complexion of American culture in one of the most culturally vibrant of twentieth-century decades. It provides a vivid account of the major cultural forms of 1960s America - music and performance; film and television; fiction and poetry; art and photography - as well as influential texts, trends and figures of the decade: from Norman Mailer to Susan Sontag; from Muhammad Ali''s anti-war protests to Tom Lehrer''s stand-up comedy; from Bob Dylan to Rachel Carson; and from Pop Art to photojournalism. A chapter on new social movements demonstrates that a current of conservatism runs through even the most revolutionary movements of the 1960s and the book as a whole looks to the West and especially to the South in the making of the sixties as myth and as history.
Trade ReviewJust when it seems as if there might be nothing new to be said about the 1960s, Sharon Monteith has crafted an original and highly valuable new take on the decade and its legacies. She combines perceptive cultural analysis and shrewd aesthetic judgements with a firm grasp of historical and social context. The result is a smart, engaging and persuasive introduction to the decade's complex cultural politics. -- Brian Ward, Professor of American Studies, University of Manchester Just when it seems as if there might be nothing new to be said about the 1960s, Sharon Monteith has crafted an original and highly valuable new take on the decade and its legacies. She combines perceptive cultural analysis and shrewd aesthetic judgements with a firm grasp of historical and social context. The result is a smart, engaging and persuasive introduction to the decade's complex cultural politics.
Table of ContentsList of Figures; List of Case Studies; Chronology of 1960s American Culture; Introduction: The Intellectual Context; 1. Music and Performance; 2. Film and Television; 3. Fiction and Poetry; 4. Art and Photography; 5. New Social Movements and Creative Dissent; Conclusion: The Cultural Legacy of the 1960s; Notes; Bibliogrpahy; Index.
