The Contemporary Period Prosperity and Protest 1946-Present

Change This was a time of great change!!! Women’s Rights Civil Rights Entertainment

Historical Background After WWII, America is most powerful nation Jubilation after war ended, and there was great prosperity. Beginning of the Cold War, nuclear age

Soviet Union taking over East Europe United Nations created in 1945 Cold War began right after WWII 1950, American soldiers helped South Korean ward off North Korea.

1950s are the “silent Generation” President Eisenhower praised October 1957, Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. Americans inspired

Kennedy assassinated in 1963. Shortly after came the war in Vietnam People protesting People cried for more civil rights, “relevance” in education, and an end to Vietnam war

Segregation outlawed in 1954 Martin Luther King killed in 1968 in Memphis, TN Rioting

Literature of the Period Change was brought to literature. Let’s look at some of the differences between the Modernism and Postmodernism literature.

Modernism 1.) Viewed the massive casualties of WWI as undercutting pretensions to rationality and civilization. 2.) Influenced by Freud’s studies of the unconscious and a new interest in the art of primitive people. 3.) Loss of trust in rationality, balanced by a newfound trust in the artist’s ability to glean meaning from the irrational.

4.) Confidence that the work of the art is a unique and powerful creation with its own individual aura or atmosphere. 5.) Tendency to view the work of art as a perfected product rather than as an incomplete and ongoing process.

6.) Some confidence in the truth of the Renaissance notion that a great work of art is immortal and ensures immortality for its author. 7.) Belief that “high” culture and “low” culture are separated by a meaningful dividing line and that a work of fine art is inherently superior to a cartoon.

Postmodernism 1.) Viewed WWI, with the Holocaust and the dropping of the A-Bomb, as undercutting assumptions of life’s meaning. 2.) Influenced by studies of media and language and by the explosive growth of information technology. 3.) Some loss of trust in the artist’s ability to access the irrational and return with a sense of renewal and greater meaning.

4.)Less confidence that the work of art is unique, coupled with a sense that culture endlessly duplicated and copies itself. 5.) Greater interest in the work of art as a process that reflects on its own making as it evolves.

6.) Loss of confidence in the Renaissance notion that a great work of art is immortal and ensures immortality for its author. 7.) Loss of belief in the meaningful dividing line between “high” culture and “low” culture, so that in Pop Art, the subject matter of fine art can be a cartoon.

A Quest for Stability People wanted to return to a state of stability, to return to the “good ol’ days.” Nixon promised to end war, but he was overshadowed by the Watergate Affair. Watergate – burglarizing of the Democratic Party headquarters under the direction of Nixon government officials. Nixon resigned.

1970s, not only the Civil Rights movement, but also the women’s liberation movement. Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” was published in 1963.

Jimmy Carter served one term, but then came the glorious Ronald Reagan George Bush – 1988-1992 Bill Clinton – 1992-2000 George Bush – 2000-2008

The Changing Scene Television changed the leisure habits of Americans. Automobiles made suburbs possible. Then, even telecommute became possible. Development of the Internet

Authors for a New Era