AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE, 1929 TO THE PRESENT History 3320 Spring 2014 Scott Laderman Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 – 3:15 235 A. B. Anderson Hall 316 Kirby Plaza 218-726-7207 [email protected] www.d.umn.edu/~laderman Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 8:15 – 9:30, and by appointment Course Description This course will examine the intersections of the American popular arts – especially film, music, the visual arts, and literature – and national and international politics from the Great Depression to the present. We will explore the domestic and global conflicts that have shaped and transformed American society and the manner in which the resultant tensions have been reflected in a multitude of cultural productions and artifacts. To aid us in understanding the history of the past eighty years, we will read fictional works by John Okada (No-No Boy), Tim O’Brien (The Things They Carried), and T. C. Boyle (The Tortilla Curtain). We will explore the censorship debates that greeted the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe, and the “blacklisted” film Salt of the Earth (1954). We will examine the America portrayed by artists and photographers such as Norman Rockwell and Dorothea Lange, and we will consider the ways in which politics has infused much American music, such as songs performed by Billie Holiday, Country Joe and the Fish, and Merle Haggard. And through films ranging from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) to Mississippi Burning (1988) and Three Kings (1999), we will study Hollywood’s influence in the shaping of political and historical consciousness and memory. The primary objectives of this course are twofold: to critically analyze the popular arts as not merely a source of leisure but as a force that shapes – and is shaped by – the schisms of American society, and to employ history as a means of understanding the social, cultural, political, and economic conditions of the twenty-first century. Required Books Glenn C. Altschuler. All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. T. C. Boyle. The Tortilla Curtain. New York: Penguin Books U.S.A., Inc., 1995. Thomas Doherty. Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Tim O’Brien. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. John Okada. No-No Boy. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976.2 Course Requirements 1. Class Participation and Attendance. Attendance is mandatory. If you are unable to attend class (legitimate excuses for an absence include a religious holiday, a verifiable illness, a serious family emergency, a subpoena, jury duty, military service, or participation in a group activity sponsored by the University), I must be notified in a timely fashion. I also expect students to have completed all of the weekly readings listed on the syllabus before the first class meeting of the week. I may call on you to answer questions or discuss pertinent points. However, the class meetings will largely complement, not duplicate, the required readings. You are encouraged to speak with me during my office hours if you are confused or concerned about any of the material. If you cannot meet during my regular office hours, you may contact me to schedule an appointment at another time. (10 percent of final grade) 2. Quizzes. There will be three quizzes during the semester. They will cover various topics addressed in the readings, films, and lectures/discussion. The quizzes will be given on February 20, March 27, and April 24. Make-up quizzes will not be allowed. (30 percent of final grade) 3. Final Exam. The final exam will be given on May 14 from 4:00 to 5:55 p.m. It will be a comprehensive exam covering material from throughout the semester. (20 percent of final grade) 4. Research Paper. You will be required to write an eight-page double-spaced paper incorporating research in both primary and secondary sources. In the paper you will need to explain the meaning and significance of a particular cultural artifact (such as a movie, play, novel, television program, poem, or painting). The artifact cannot be one of the artifacts we have covered in class. Moving beyond whether you find the artifact entertaining, you will want to explore what it actually means. In other words, are American films just well acted stories? Is American visual art nothing more than colors on canvas or pieces of metal welded together? Is American literature merely words printed on a page? You must choose an artifact (or artifacts) created between 1929 and 2000 and explain its relationship to what we might consider American national identity. (NOTE: While sporting events could arguably be considered a part of American popular culture, they are not acceptable artifacts for purposes of this paper.) There are a number of questions you might consider as you work on your paper. Is there such a thing as national identity? Or are there multiple national identities? What have scholars said about the historical, cultural, and political context of the artifact? What meaning have they assigned to it? Do you agree with this meaning? If not, why not? What possible effect might the artifact have had on the lives of Americans or others? Please note that this essay is not to be merely an expression of your opinion; it must be grounded in solid scholarly analysis. Providing context – political, cultural, social – will be crucial. At least four scholarly secondary sources (books, journal articles, or conference papers, but NOT encyclopedias or book reviews) must be used. The class readings will not count as secondary sources for purposes of this assignment. Please be aware, too, that not all journal articles that appear in the UMD Library’s electronic databases (Academic Search Premier, Academic OneFile, et cetera), and not all books on a given subject, are necessarily scholarly. I thus strongly recommend showing me your sources before you begin your reading – that is, at an early date – to confirm that they meet the course requirements. You will also need to draw on at least three primary sources (archival documents or documents in published collections, interviews or oral histories, contemporaneous reviews, et cetera) in your essay. I have provided links to a number of potential online sources of primary documents on