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American Literature and Culture Since 1945
A Short Overview
From Hassan Ihab’s “Toward a Concept of Postmodernism” The Postmodern Turn (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1987, cited in Nealon and
Girouz’s The Theory Toolbox, 2003).
Modernism Postmodernism
Form (closed) Anti-form (open)
Purpose Play
Design Chance
Hierarchy Anarchy
Finished Art ObjectProcess/Performance
Distance Participation
Totalization Deconstruction
Centering Dispersal
Metaphor Metonymy
Signified Signifier
Depth Surface
Determinancy Indeterminancy
“The War is Over!” – Americans Come Home Positioned to Emerge as a Dominant Power Globally
As the post-war political scene settles, the U.S. and the former Soviet Union (then the U.S.S.R.) begin what will be a political, economic, and ideological standoff—better known as the “Cold War”—which will last until the end of the
1980s.
The U.S. promotes a policy of "Assured Destruction" In response, Americans begin to prepare
advocated by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert for the possible consequences of such
McNamara (often referred to as MAD – Mutually an event (made very real by the Cuban
Assured Destruction) Missle Crises in 1962)
p.s. With the end of the U.S. shuttle program, some might say the Soviets won the space race. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/08/it-s-goodbye-shuttle-hello-soyuz-after-atlantis-last-flight.html
As American consumer power grows in the 1950s and 1960s, so does the dream of home ownership—a.k.a. the “American Dream”--and thus
the rise of the Suburbs.Note: FDR’s Second Bill of American Rights helps white Americans accieve this dream.
At times celebratory and at times critical, American art begins to reflect a rising consumer culture.
Andy Warhol's “Campbell Soup Can” and “Elvis” (both c. 1971)
At the same time, American authors belonging to counter-cultural movements (such as the Beat Poets) begin to question the effects of
this prosperity—and to search out other value systems.
Allen Ginsburg reading “Howl” in Washington Square in 1966
Simultaneously, the pursuit by minority Americans for inclusion in—and access to—the privileges of Mainstream America takes center stage in
American media.
Martin Luther King Jr. Leads the Bus Boycott in Malcolm X gives a speech at a Black
Montgomery, AL – 1956 Muslim Convention - 1963
By the end of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, more and more Americans begin to question the political and military role that should
be played by the now dominant American Empire.Note: Eisenhower warns of this with his now famous 1961 “Military-Industrial Complex” Speech
October 21, 1967 – Demonstrators Gather at May 4, 1970 – Students protest the war at
the Lincoln Memorial and the Pentagon to protest Kent State and members of the Ohio
the Vietnam War Nation Guard respond with violence.
By the 1980s, Americans seemingly become more comfortable with their prosperity and power and begin to celebrate the excesses of
consumer culture. (This is the era of “shop ‘till you drop” and getting rich on Wall Street).
Modonna’s “Material Girl” (1985) ranked Risky Buisiness premiered in 1983 and
In the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 Wall Street followed in 1987.
By the late 1980s and throughout the end of the 20th century, more minority authors gain national—and global—acclaim.
The era of “multiculturalism” and diversity opens doors for more African-American, Asian-American, Native-American, and Latino/a
Authors
1980-Present: The Changing Aesthetics of Excellence Pulitzer Prize Winners for Fiction
2011 – A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
2010 – Tinkers by Paul Harding
2009 – Olive Kitteridge byElizabeth Strout
2008 – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2007 – The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2006 – March by Geraldine Brooks
2005 – Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
2004 – The Known World byEdward P. Jones
2003 – Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2002 – Empire Falls by Richard Russo
2001 – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
2000 – Interpreter of Maladies byJhumpa Lahiri
1999 – The Hours by Michael Cunningham
1998 – American Pastoral byPhilip Roth
1997 – Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer bySteven Millhauser
1996 – Independence Day byRichard Ford
1995 – The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
1994 – The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
1993 – A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
1992 – A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
1991 – Rabbit At Rest by John Updike
1990 - The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
1989 – Breathing Lessons byAnne Tyler
1988 – Beloved by Toni Morrison
1987 – A Summons to Memphis byPeter Taylor
1986 – Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
1985 –Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
1984 – Ironweed by William Kennedy
1983 – The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1982 – Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
1981 – A Confederacy of Duncesby the late John Kennedy Toole
1980 - The Executioner's Song byNorman Mailer