Description
Book SynopsisBorn roughly between 1964 and 1980, Generation X has received much less critical attention than the two generations that precede and follow it: the Baby Boomers and Millennials. This essay collection examines representations of Generation X in contemporary popular culture, including in television, movies, music, and internet sources. Drawing on generational theory, cultural studies theory, race theory, and feminist theory, the essays in this volume consider the past identities of Generation X, relationships with members of younger generations, modern appropriation of Generation X aesthetics, interactions of Generation X members with family, and the existential values of Generation X.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Gen X “Brings It” to Adulthood
By Pam Hollander
Chapter 1: Cobra Kai: Flipping the Script and Finding Intergenerational Balance
By Jim Deys
Chapter 2: The Countercultural Legacy of Generation X in Twin Peaks
By Damon Franke
Chapter 3: So Different Yet So Similar: Two Black Generation X Professors Discuss Life at the Half Century Mark
By Elwood Watson & Zebulon Miletsky
Chapter 4: The Revisionist 3Rs: Revolutionize your Revolutions around the Sun
By Sarah Parker
Chapter 5: The New Adult: A Media Comparison of Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z
By Lee Okan
Chapter 6: From Latchkey Kid to Granny Nanny: How Gen X Shaped the Modern Family
By Melissa Vosen Callens
Chapter 7: Crimes of Trust: Middle-Aged Gen Xers In Ozark
By Marty Rapp
Chapter 8: “I Didn’t Feel a Thing”: The Gen X Trauma and Alternative Families in My Golden Days
By Helena Gurfinkel
Chapter 9: The Aging Dilemma in Forever: Generation X Asks What It Means to Live
By Kellie Deys
Appendix: Personal Essays on Generation X at Middle Age
