Modern American Culture

"Modern American Culture is a multi-contributor collection of essays which provides a clear, lively and concise introduction to the richness and diversity of American culture, especially, but not exclusively, during the twentieth century. 'Culture' is here conceived in broad terms, to include ideas, social institutions, environmental features, behavioural patterns and forms of expression." "Organized thematically, the book can be divided into two parts. The initial chapters largely...
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"Modern American Culture is a multi-contributor collection of essays which provides a clear, lively and concise introduction to the richness and diversity of American culture, especially, but not exclusively, during the twentieth century. 'Culture' is here conceived in broad terms, to include ideas, social institutions, environmental features, behavioural patterns and forms of expression." "Organized thematically, the book can be divided into two parts. The initial chapters largely present historical, economic, political and geographical aspects of American culture from a variety of different perspectives and include treatment of such central themes as race, religion, immigration and region. The second half of the book is mainly concerned with generic issues such as the media, popular music, performance arts, painting, and poetry and poetics. Each chapter introduces the reader to the appropriate cultural critics and leads towards the fuller scale treatment of American cultural criticism itself which concludes the book." "The increasing popularity of American Studies, both as a degree area in its own right and as a major component of such other degrees as English and History, means that this book will be warmly welcomed by undergraduate and postgraduate students. It will prove essential to students following American Studies courses, and provides useful contextualization for those taking Cultural and Media Studies. It will also appeal to the general reader with an interest in American culture."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved