American Literature in Transition, 1970–1980

American Literature in Transition, 1970–1980 explores how American literary culture responded to the gaudiest, most gauche of 20th-century decades.

Kirk Curnutt (Edited by)

9781107150768, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 March 2018

472 pages, 4 b/w illus.
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.88 kg

American Literature in Transition, 1970–1980 examines the literary developments of the twentieth-century's gaudiest decade. For a quarter century, filmmakers, musicians, and historians have returned to the era to explore the legacy of Watergate, stagflation, and Saturday Night Fever, uncovering the unique confluence of political and economic phenomena that make the period such a baffling time. Literary historians have never shown much interest in the era, however - a remarkable omission considering writers as diverse as Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Marilyn French, Adrienne Rich, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer, Alice Walker, and Octavia E. Butler were active. Over the course of twenty-one essays, contributors explore a range of controversial themes these writers tackled, from 1960s' nostalgia to feminism and the redefinition of masculinity to sexual liberation and rock 'n' roll. Other essays address New Journalism, the rise of blockbuster culture, memoir and self-help, and crime fiction - all demonstrating that the Me Decade was nothing short of mesmerizing.

Chronology
Introduction: sucking in the '70s Kirk Curnutt
Part I. Themes: 1. In the shadow of the 1960s: 'what do we do now?' Matthew Luter
2. 'It's not okay with me': the 1970s war against nostalgia Steven Goldleaf
3. 'We interrupt this program': narratives in conflict in American postmodern literature of the 1970s Eric G. Waggoner
4. 'All in the family': ancestral voices and ancestral Gods in 1970s multiculturalism Christopher Douglas
5. 'An element of present danger': jogging, football, and anxieties of vulnerability in 1970s sporting literature Ryan Hediger
6. 'The zipless fuck is absolutely pure': sexual liberation and 1970s American literature Dale M. Bauer
Part II. Genres and the Business of Literature: 7. Our stories, our selves: memoir and self-help in the 'me decade' Nicole Stamant
8. '(Not just) knee deep': black writing between soul and the mainstream Michael Hill
9. Green letters in a decade black with ink: American environmental writing in the 1970s Will Elliott
10. Future shocks: science fiction transformations in the 1970s Robin A. Roberts
11. Death wishes: crime literature, violence, and detectives in the American 1970s Linda Wagner-Martin
12. The Great American Novel in the 1970s Tom Perrin
13. The bestseller and the blockbuster mentality Philip McGowan
14. 'Do the hustle': showmanship, publicity, and the changing landscape of literary authority Tom Cerasulo
Part III. Cultural Engagements: 15. First to write: the 1970s and the Vietnamese War Alex Vernon
16. Nixon burning: the anti-establishment turn in 1970s' American political writing David Seed
17. The maturation of the new journalism in the 1970s Everette E. Dennis
18. Rock is dead/long live rock: popular music in 1970s American literature Kirk Curnutt
19. The confessional turn: masculinity and American literary culture in the 1970s James Penner
20. The feminist 1970s Sam McBean
21. Blood on the page: the decade gets its period David Linton
Conclusion: keep on truckin' Kirk Curnutt.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH]