American Culture in the 1970s

Twentieth-Century American Culture Series Editor: Martin Halliwell This academic series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in the twentieth century. Each title covers a specific decade and offers a clear overview of its dominant cultural forms and influential texts, discussing their historical impact and cultural legacy. Collectively the series reframes the notion of 'decade studies' through the prism of cultural production to rethink the ways in which decades are usually periodised. Broad contextual approaches to the particular decade are combined with textual case studies, focusing on themes of modernity, commerce, freedom, power, resistance, community, race, class, gender, sexuality, internationalism, war, technology and popular culture. American Culture in the 1970s Will Kaufman 'Belongs on the shelf of every Americanist and in all libraries with collections of American Studies... the book guides us through the turbulent 70s while providing a solid basis for further reading and research... Extensively researched and lucidly written, this book is a pleasure to read and learn from.' Donald E Morse, Emeritus Professor of English and Rhetoric, Oakland University, USA The 1970s was one of the most culturally vibrant periods in American history. This book discusses the dominant cultural forms of the 1970s - fiction and poetry; television and drama; film and visual culture; popular music and style; public space and spectacle - and the decade's most influential practitioners and texts: from Toni Morrison to All in the Family, from Diane Arbus to Bruce Springsteen, from M.A.S.H. to Taxi Driver and from disco divas to Vietnam protesters. In response to those who consider the seventies the time of disco, polyester and narcissism, this book rewrites the critical engagement with one of America's most misunderstood decades. Key Features * Focused case studies featuring key texts and influential writers, artists, directors and musicians * C

Will Kaufman is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Central Lancashire and a founder of the Maastricht Center for Transatlantic Studies in the Netherlands. He is the author of The Comedian as Confidence Man: Studies in Irony Fatigue (1997) and The Civil War in American Culture (2006).

List of Figures; List of Case Studies; Acknowledgements; Chronology of 1970s Culture; Introduction: The Intellectual Context; 1. Fiction and Poetry; 2. Television and Drama; 3. Film and Visual Culture; 4. Popular Music and Style; 5. Public Space and Spectacle; Conclusion: Rethinking the 1970s.