SuburbiaNation: Reading Suburban Landscape in Twentieth Century American Film and Fiction

by R. Beuka

Overview

The expansion of the suburban environment is a fascinating cultural development. In fact, the United States is primarily a suburban nation, with far more Americans living in the suburbs that in either urban or rural areas. Why were suburbs created to begin with? How do we define them? Are they really the promised land of the American middle class? The concept of space and how we create it is a concept that is receiving a great deal of academic attention, but no one has looked carefully at the suburban landscape through the lens of fiction and of film.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403963406
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	02/13/2004
Edition description:	2004
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

ROBERT BEUKA is Assistant Professor of English at Bronx Community College, New York, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Utopia, Dystopia, Heterotopia: The Suburban Landscape in Twentieth Century American Culture and Thought 'The hour of a profound human change': Transitional Landscapes and the Sense of Place in Two Proto-Suburban Narratives Finding the Worm in the Apple: John Cheever, Class Distinction, and the Postwar Suburban Landscape Honey, I'm Home (?): Rabbit, Benjamin, and the Imperiled Suburban Male Approaching Stepford: Gender, Suburbia, and the Politics of Domesticity Color Adjustment: African American Representations of Suburban Life and Landscape Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Beuka's study of the suburban landscape in fiction and film brings to the forefront the insights made by writers and directors, and Beuka splendidly analyzes their contributions for their cultural significance. . . a major work of criticism and social commentary." - Branimir M. Rieger, Professor of English, Lander University

"Beuka's new approach to the meaning of the 'American Dream,' as reflected in popular culture - notably in television and popular magazines - sheds new light on the contemporary scene, and our response to historical events, particularly in the aftermath of 9/11. Above all, his treatment of the meaning of 'place' as a dynamic element in our lives offers new insight into the study of fiction and film. This is an important book for everyone interested in American culture, American studies, and fiction and film affected by the growth of suburbia. After reading it, I cannot look at the suburban nation as I did before, and my understanding of contemporary events has been deepened and enriched by Beuka's work." - Ruth Prigozy, Professor of English, Hofstra University, Executive Director, F. Scott Fitzgerald Society

From the Publisher