American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970

This book uncovers the 1960s as they were experienced by America's greatest authors.

David Wyatt (Edited by)

9781107165397, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 September 2018

396 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.4 cm, 0.79 kg

The decade of the 1960s has come to occupy a uniquely seductive place in both the popular and the historical imagination. While few might disagree that it was a transformative period, the United States remains divided on the question of whether the changes that occurred were for the better or for the worse. Some see it as a decade when people became more free; others as a time when people became more lost. American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970 provides the latest scholarship on this time of fateful turning as seen through the eyes of writers as various as Toni Morrison, Gary Snyder, Michael Herr, Amiri Baraka, Joan Didion, Louis Chu, John Rechy, and Gwendolyn Brooks. This collection of essays by twenty-five scholars offers analysis and explication of the culture wars surrounding the period, and explores the enduring testimonies left behind by its literature.

Introduction David Wyatt
Part I. Modes: 1. Poetry Patricia Wallace
2. The novel Morris Dickstein
3. Drama David Krasner
4. New journalism Daniel Lehman
5. Translation Michael Collier
6. Criticism and theory David Wyatt
7. Social thought Philip Longo
8. The literature of film Robert P. Kolker
9. Orations Keith D. Miller and Joseph Kubiak
Part II. Forces: 10. Vietnam Philip D. Beidler
11. The secret world Timothy Parrish
12. The counterculture Loren Glass
13. The university Fredrik deBoer
14. Work Christin Marie Taylor
15. The suburbs Randy Ontiveros
Part III. Movements: 16. The end of modernism Al Filreis
17. Civil rights Valerie Sweeney Prince
18. The new right Angela S. Allan
19. Women's liberation Nancy J. Peterson
20. Toward stonewall Octavio R. González
21. The greening Robert Schultz
22. Voices of color: first peoples Catherine Rainwater
23. Voices of color: later arrivals Crystal Parikh
24. The postmodern John Hellmann
25. Canon formation Paul Lauter.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH], Literature: history & criticism [DS]