Is American Culture American?
Richard Pells
Richard Pells is professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of three books: Radical Visions and American Dreams: Culture and Social Thought in the Depression Years; The Liberal Mind in a Conservative Age: American Intellectuals in the 1940s and 1950s; and Not Like Us: How Europeans Have Loved, Hated, and Transformed American Culture Since World War II. He is currently at work on From Modernism to the Movies: The Globalization of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. He has held six Fulbright senior lectureships and chairs, as well as other visiting professorships, at universities in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Finland, Brazil, Australia, and Indonesia.
From the beginning of the 20th century, people abroad have been uncomfortable with the global impact of American culture. In 1901, the British writer William Stead published a book called, ominously, The Americanization of the World. The title captured a set of apprehensions—about the disappearance of national languages and traditions, and the obliteration of a country's unique "identity" under the weight of American habits and states of mind—that persists until today
The magnificent and exciting Stuttgart StaatsGalerie was holding an extensive Pop Art Exhibition at the time of my visit. It was a well curated exhibition of the Pop Art movement in the USA and UK primarily, in the 1950s & 1960s mainly.
Here is my journey through that exhibition, and an increasing realisation that modern art of a time period is often a window on the future, or one possible future.
Technology is not the only answer to the problem, nor is industrial thinking. This generation, the ‘Creative Generation’ as termed by 2thinknow, will need to invent human approaches to the world’s problems. Here’s how…
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Culture of the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the high culture and popular culture of the United States. For customs and way of life, see Society of the United States.
Culture of the
United States
Architecture
Cinema
Comic books
Cuisine
Dance
Literature
Music
Poetry
Radio
Sculpture
Television
Theater
Visual arts
The development of the culture of the United States of America — music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry, cuisine and the visual arts — has been marked by a tension between two strong sources of inspiration: European sophistication and domestic originality.
American music is heard all over the world, such as through Channel V, VH1 and by singers such as Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Mariah Carey, and the Backstreet Boys; American movies and television shows can be seen almost anywhere[citation needed], including icons like Star Wars, Titanic and The Matrix; American sports figures are widely known, such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams, Mike Tyson and Michael Johnson; and American movie actors and actresses are widely recognized such as Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Marilyn Monroe, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise. This is in very stark contrast to the early days of the American republic, when the country was generally seen as an agricultural backwater with little to offer the culturally advanced world centers of Europe and Asia. At the beginning of her third century, nearly every major American city offers classical and popular music; historical, scientific and art research centers and museums; dance performances, musicals and plays; outdoor art projects and internationally significant architecture. This development is a result of both contributions by private philanthropists and government funding.
In 1800, everyday life had changed little since the year 1000. Yet, by 1900 the Industrial Revolution had transformed the world's economy. The United States was still new and making its way to becoming a world power. Watch it happen as you browse your way through each decade. Then visit the suggested links for more information. Because we are librarians, we must point out that the best way to immerse oneself in a topic is to use both Internet and library books. Nothing like getting your hands on books! The smell alone is intoxicating! Our intention is to offer an overview of the century in a 'semi-essay' form - and to let the links we have chosen take users even further.
