The American Counterculture by Christopher Gair
This introduction explores the relationship between the counterculture and American popular culture.
An adroit and hugely enjoyable study of American counterculture, Christopher Gair moves fluently and perceptively across fiction, music, painting and film, and demonstrates with great skill the contradictions and tensions internal to countercultural forms and the degree to which they become assimilated to the imperatives of pre-existing ideologiesGair negotiates the canonical and non-canonical in each of his fields with an adventurousness that is wonderfully informed, lively and stimulating -- Professor Ian FA Bell, University of Keele This study of the American counterculture in the post war period offers an immensely readable overview of a complex and many-stranded topic. Strongly informed by a detailed knowledge of the history and politics of the era, the book charts two chronological stages (1945-60 and 1960-72) in the emergence and flourishing of the counterculture, focusing on the four fields of fiction, music, painting and film. This is a fine book and one that can be enjoyed by the knowledgeable general reader as well as by an academic audience. Its range, content and comparative approach make it an example of American cultural studies at its best -- Peter Messent, University of Nottingham It is fill of sharp insights and fascinating conjunctions of texts, and of disparate cultural moments. It will be a valuable introduction for students but will also offer real food for thought for anyone interested in the period. -- David Murray, University of Nottingham Journal of American Studies An adroit and hugely enjoyable study of American counterculture, Christopher Gair moves fluently and perceptively across fiction, music, painting and film, and demonstrates with great skill the contradictions and tensions internal to countercultural forms and the degree to which they become assimilated to the imperatives of pre-existing ideologies. Gair negotiates the canonical and non-canonical in each of his fields with an adventurousness that is wonderfully informed, lively and stimulating This study of the American counterculture in the post war period offers an immensely readable overview of a complex and many-stranded topic. Strongly informed by a detailed knowledge of the history and politics of the era, the book charts two chronological stages (1945-60 and 1960-72) in the emergence and flourishing of the counterculture, focusing on the four fields of fiction, music, painting and film. This is a fine book and one that can be enjoyed by the knowledgeable general reader as well as by an academic audience. Its range, content and comparative approach make it an example of American cultural studies at its best It is fill of sharp insights and fascinating conjunctions of texts, and of disparate cultural moments. It will be a valuable introduction for students but will also offer real food for thought for anyone interested in the period.
Christopher Gair is a Senior Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Glasgow. He is author of Complicity and Resistance in Jack London’s Novels: From Naturalism to Nature (1997), and editor of C.L.R. James and Postnational Studies (2006).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780748619887 |
| ISBN 10 | 0748619887 |
| Title | The American Counterculture |
| Author | Christopher Gair |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
| Year published | 2007-02-16 |
| Number of pages | 240 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |