American Culture in the 1960s

by Sharon Monteith

Overview

This 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780748619467
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	10/08/2008
Series:	Twentieth-Century American Culture
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sharon Monteith is Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Table of Contents

List 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.

Editorial Reviews

Monteith delves well beyond the surface to provide a solid cultural history of the sixties ... The book as a whole is highly readable and engaging, and Monteith continuously includes humorous quotes and information ... the tidy organization and clear articulation of the cultural pulse of the 1960s makes the book essential reading.

H-1960s - Matthew Shannon

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.

Brian Ward

This is a revolutionary book, in keeping with the turbulent, troubled spirit of the period it dissects. It is bound to become the standard reading of a key moment in the national narrative of the United States - a narrative that, as Monteith shows, is made up equally of history and myth ... She sheds a fresh, bright and original light on what might seem an overly familiar subject.

Journal of America Studies - Richard Gray

Highly readable and engaging.

— Matthew Shannon

H-1960s