Late 20th and Early 21st Century American Culture, Politics, and Literature

The Civil Rights Movement and the End of an Era

The lecture begins by revisiting the decades following the Second World War, focusing specifically on the evolution of the civil rights movement. By the late 1960s, the movement had transitioned into a more militant phase, presenting a challenge to authority that frequently manifested in violent confrontations—often as a reaction to the actions of the authorities themselves. This era was marked by significant domestic unrest, with the ghettos of Los Angeles, Detroit, New York, and Washington being described as "aflame." Simultaneously, huge protests erupted in the nation’s universities, where students resisted local and state authorities, leading to further violence. This period stands in contrast to the peaceful nature of Martin Luther King Jr.’s earlier March on Washington, where his famous speech articulated a dream of equality through peaceful societal change rather than the violent revolution advocated by others. His assassination signaled the definitive end of that specific era of the movement.

The Vietnam War and the Culture of Obscenity

Moving into the 1970s, the central issue for many protest groups was the Vietnam War. In $1964$, President Lyndon Johnson was granted almost unlimited power to wage war against the communist threat in North Vietnam. This resulted in the commitment of American troops to a massive land war against an indigenous guerrilla movement. The conflict was particularly difficult because the opposing forces were intimately familiar with the terrain and were fighting on their own territory. The war became a destructive intervention and served as a "lesson in humility" for the United States, then the dominant global superpower. The military engaged in saturation bombing and a process euphemistically termed "defoliation," which involved the systemic destruction of forests and vegetation to deprive the enemy of livelihood and shelter. American policy essentially sought to bleed the nation's human and economic resources to sustain a puppet government in South Vietnam.

As more people perceived the war as immoral, millions took to the streets by $1967$ to protest what they viewed as a useless and obscene conflict. This protest movement included notable literary figures such as Norman Mailer, and poets like Robert Lowell and Alan Ginsberg. This official culture, which the protesters viewed as having a lack of concern for human life elsewhere, was challenged by a vigorous alternative culture that emphasized human connectedness regardless of geography or belief systems.

The Aesthetics and Social Reality of the 1960s

Literature and protest during this era were deeply political and manifested in direct acts of defiance, such as the burning of draft cards. However, the protest also extended into lifestyles and artistic styles. The distinctive imagery of the 1960s included long hair, short skirts, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, and the rise of psychedelic art and rock concerts. These elements formed a strategy for challenging standard notions of social reality, behavior, and gender. Writers and artists shifted from an analytical mode to an expressive, intellectual, and imaginative mode, embracing a fluid and unstructured reality. This artistic eclecticism, which mingled fantasy with commitment, myth with social protest, and high art with popular culture, signaled the rooting of postmodernism.

A tragic milestone of this era was the Kent State shooting, where four students, aged $19$ and $20$, were killed by authorities while peacefully protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. This event triggered a strike of $4,000,000$ students. Paradoxically, $1968$, the year often cited as the peak of the "flower power" hippie movement, also saw the election of Richard Nixon, a conservative president who claimed to speak for the "silent majority" of white middle-class Americans.

Transition to the 1970s: The "Me Decade" and Economic Shifts

The "sixties" is conceptualized less as a strict chronological decade and more as a label for a radical, experimental, and subversive frame of mind that persisted well into the 1970s. Many movements originating in the 60s, such as the feminist and ecological movements, eventually achieved mainstream status and influenced legislation that remained in operation for decades. However, the election of Nixon in $1968$ and his reelection in $1972$ marked a national shift away from confrontation. As the Vietnam War ended, the primary catalyst for mass protest vanished.

By the 1970s, the children of the post-war baby boom began entering the workforce and assuming domestic responsibilities, changing the landscape of popular culture. Economically, while the Gross National Product rose to $974,000,000,000$ in $1970$, the decade faced a worsening crisis. Inflation in the U.S. surpassed that of most Western European nations, and balance of payment deficits grew, causing the dollar to lose purchasing power. Growth for the middle class slowed significantly, especially after the oil crisis of the early 70s. This economic environment led to a "narrowing of horizons," where individuals focused on preserving personal and generational wealth. Tom Wolfe labeled the 1970s the "Me Decade," and other writers described it as a "culture of narcissism," reflecting an inward turn of intellectual and cultural focus.

Technology, Mass Production, and Visual Arts

Starting in the 1960s, everyday life was transformed by the dominance of mass-produced, serial objects rather than handmade items. This shift was reflected in architecture, such as uniform skyscrapers and highways. New goals like space travel spurred interest in physics and mathematics, and the first computers began to appear in science and technology. This fascination with serialization and technology influenced the visual arts, as seen in the work of Josef Albers in the USA (e.g., "Homage to the Square Opens Outward and Within a Thin Interval") and Wojciech Fangor in Poland, both of whom utilized identical elements and repetition.

Political Rhetoric and the American Past

Following Richard Nixon’s resignation, subsequent presidents offered alternatives to 60s radicalism. Jimmy Carter, inaugurated in $1977$, promoted an introspective moralism, telling the public, "your strength can compensate for my weakness and your wisdom can minimize my mistakes." Ronald Reagan utilized a religious vocabulary, speaking of a "shining city upon a hill" and emphasizing a mythical American past defined by stable families and pastoral values. This backward-looking impulse stressed personal responsibility over communal vision. Later, in the 1990s, Bill Clinton claimed the spirit of the 1960s for himself, identifying as part of a "raw new postwar generation" and emphasizing "a place called hope" (referencing his hometown in Arkansas). His campaign famously used footage of him as a boy shaking hands with John Kennedy. The presidencies of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush represented a turn toward a more conservative America.

The Post-Cold War Global Landscape

A critical change in the late 20th century was the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which ended the Cold War era. This geopolitical shift led to the disappearance of the "great narratives" or metanarratives used to explain historical movements. The world became increasingly transnational, and the United States transitioned into a multicultural "mosaic." While American popular culture became globally dominant, leading to a "colonization of the imagination" elsewhere, the U.S. itself became internationalized. Ishmael Reed famously described the U.S. as the "first universal nation."

This era saw a questioning of fixed social and familial roles. Artist Cindy Sherman explored this through her photography, remaking her own image to challenge archetypes of pop and high culture while addressing issues of aging, narcissism, and digital manipulation. Similarly, feminism in the 70s, 80s, and 90s became more assertive of female power, exemplified by songs like Cyndi Lauper’s "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," which serves as a feminist anthem.

Demographic Changes and Ethnic Identity

Ishmael Reed’s declaration that "the world is here" is supported by three demographic factors. First, established ethnic groups gained prominence. In the $1990$ census, $1,959,000$ people identified as Native American out of a total population of over $248,000,000$, a fourfold increase since the $1960$ census. This rise was due to higher birth rates and improved healthcare, but also a shift in consciousness where more people pridefully claimed Native American ancestry. Second, Mexican Americans, living in the cultural borderland known as "La Frontera," found new pride in their origins despite shifting historical borders. Writers like Ronaldo Hinojosa (e.g., "Becky and Her Friends") and Elena Maria Viramontes (e.g., "Under the Feet of Jesus") explored these themes of belonging and ancestry. By $1997$, the Census Bureau predicted that Hispanics would account for more than $1$ in $4$ Americans by the mid-21st century.

Third, the Immigration and Nationality Act of $1965$, signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, abolished national origin quotas that had discriminated against Southern and Eastern Europeans as well as Asians. This led to expanded immigration from China and India. During the 1980s, roughly $9,000,000$ legal and $2,000,000$ undocumented immigrants entered the U.S., contributing to a $29\%$ population growth. In the 1990s, another $7,500,000$ foreign-born individuals entered. These shifts mean the average American will soon trace their ancestry to Asia, Africa, or the Hispanic world rather than white Europe.

9/11, the War on Terror, and Literary Responses

The terrorist attacks of September 11, $2001$, resulted in nearly $3,000$ deaths and shattered the sense of security within American boundaries. George W. Bush responded with the "War on Terror," invading Afghanistan and later Iraq in $2003$ under the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Although Saddam Hussein was toppled, the conflict led to continued chaos, civil war, and high casualties ($5,000$ coalition members and up to $700,000$ Iraqis by $2009$). Human rights abuses at detention centers like Guantanamo Bay damaged the national reputation.

Fiction responded to 9/11 by attempting to verbalize the incomprehensible terror. Notable examples include:

1. Jonathan Safran Foer’s "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close": Narrated by a 9-year-old boy, it uses blank pages to symbolize the failure of words and traces the history of terror to Dresden, Germany.

2. Don DeLillo’s "Falling Man": Uses a fragmented plot and abrupt style to reflect a shattered world, following a lawyer who survived the towers' collapse.

3. Mohsin Hamid’s "The Reluctant Fundamentalist": Tells the story of a Pakistani man in the U.S. facing an explosion of xenophobia following the attacks.

The Obama Presidency and Contemporary Literature

The election of Barack Obama, the first African American president, restored a sense of hope following the great recession. Born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia, Obama’s international background provided a counterpoint to the narrowing horizons of previous years. His presidency focused on healthcare reform, climate change, and ending the military presence in Iraq. He appointed Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic American on the Supreme Court. Obama viewed the U.S. as a "patchwork heritage," calling it a strength rather than a weakness.

Contemporary American literature has moved toward introspection and the "cult of the personal," often turning away from immediate history toward myth and fantasy. However, non-white and women writers continue to engage with history as a painful, ongoing matter. This writing often inhabits a "liminal space" or the margins, defined by heterogeneity and hybridity. Examples include:

1. David Foster Wallace: His collection "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" utilizes metafictional techniques and transcripts to critique modern masculinity and alienation.

2. Octavia Butler: A black science fiction writer who utilized the genre to comment on racial history and slavery. Her novel "Fledgling" ($2005$) explores vampire themes, speciesism, and alternative sexualities. Butler was the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She famously began writing after seeing a poor movie called "Devil Girl from Mars," believing she could write a better story.

Transnational and Peripheral Voices in American Fiction

Modern American fiction is increasingly polyglot and transnational. For instance, Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Polish immigrant who arrived in $1935$, wrote in Yiddish (e.g., "Satan in Goray", "The Magician of Lublin", "Gimpel the Fool"). Though he initially chronicled Polish ghetto life, his later work like "Shadows on the Hudson" was set in America. Lorna D. Cervantes, an indigenous Californian and Chicana poet, explores the loss of language and racial tensions in works like "Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, an Intelligent, Well-read Person, Could Believe in the War Between Races."

By the 1990s, the Asian American population reached $7,000,000$. Writers like Bharati Mukherjee (who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for "The Middleman and Other Stories" in $1988$) view immigration as a two-way transformation of both individual and national identity. Similarly, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian American author (e.g., "We Should All Be Feminists", "The Danger of a Single Story"), represents the new prominence of Anglophone authors in the American literary scene. These writers collectively challenge the notion of a common heritage or fixed boundaries, replacing the concept of the "American Eden" with fluid, independent cultural histories.

Questions & Discussion

At the conclusion of the lecture, a student (referred to as Mr. Bachkovsky) attempted to speak, but the lecturer could not hear him. The lecturer realized there were technical issues with her headphones and requested that the student provide his comments or questions in writing. The lecturer apologized for the audio problems and noted that they had likely persisted throughout the session. The class ended with a reminder that the next lecture would focus on the Beat Generation and was scheduled for Tuesday the $17^{th}$.