7. (Postmodernism in America) from 1950 on...

I. Describe the social changes after World War II.

II. Speak about the new literary movements. Name their chief representatives.

1. War novels. 2. Postwar regionalism. 3. The beat movement. 4. Black humor.

III. Name the main representatives of the literary groups. What do this writers have in common?

1. Southern writers. 2. Jewish writers. 3. Black writers. 4. Women writers.

IV. Discuss the experimental forms of fiction, poetry drama.

V. In a brief essay view the development of American literature from 1950 on.

World War II (1939—1945) marked a wide dividing line between the old and the new in American society and the nation's literature. After the war, a population explosion resulted in overcrowded cities, huge suburbs, and congested roads and highways. Many people felt the crowded conditions brought conformity and dullness to American life. Through the years, the growing population demanded more and more industrial products. This demand led to greater consumption of natural resources and an accompanying rise in environmental pollution. Violence seemed to become a part of everyday life. Overseas, the United States became involved in costly wars in Korea and Vietnam. At home, news reports told of assassinations, racial tensions, riots, and a rising crime rate.

Many American authors angrily criticized what they regarded as social injustices in the United States. Other authors wrote out of feelings of despair. They questioned whether humanity could survive the destruction and violence that seemed a natural part of the modern world. Some writers believed that new methods of literary expression were needed to deal adequately with modern life. These authors started or joined new movements in fiction, drama, and poetry.

War novels. The first novels to attract attention after World War II concerned the war itself.

«The Young Lions» (1948) by Irwin Shaw deals with three soldiers — two Americans and a German —who eventually meet in battle.

Norman Mailer wrote «The Naked and the Dead» (1948), a realistic account of American soldiers fighting in the Pacific.

«The Caine Mutiny» (1951) by Herman Wouk is a suspenseful story of conflicts among officers on a United States Navy ship.

In «From Here to Eternity» (1951), James Jones described U.S. Army life in Hawaii just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Postwar regionalism. Several authors drew on their regional backgrounds in writing fiction.

Wright Morris used his memories of Nebraska in such novels as «Field of Vision» (1956) and «Ceremony in Lone Tree» (1960).

John Cheever located most of his novels and stories in his native New England, notably the novels “The Wapshot Chronicle” (1957) and “The Wapshot Scandal” (1964).

John Updike recalled his Pennsylvania background in three related novels, «Rabbit, Run» (1960), «Rabbit Redux» (1971), and «Rabbit Is Rich» (1981).

J. D. Salinger used New York City as the background for his writings. He wrote perhaps the most popular novel of the 1950's, «The Catcher in the Rye» (1951). In this book, J.D. Salinger dealt sensitively with the problems of a teen-ager growing up in New York City.

Southern writers. Much American fiction of the period after World War П dealt with outcasts in poverty-stricken areas. Many authors wrote with sympathy about odd characters. These elements appeared especially in the works of Southern writers who followed the tradition established by William Faulkner. For example, Carson McCullers wrote sad, haunting tales of grotesque characters in such works as «Reflections in a Golden Eye” (1941), «The Ballad of the Sad Cafe» (1951), and «Clock Without Hands» (1961).

Eudora Welty explored small-town Southern life in several novels, including «Delta Wedding» (1946), and «The Optimist's Daughter” (1972).

Truman Capote began his career with a distinctive novel in a Southern setting, «Other Voices, Other Rooms» (1948).

Flannery O'Connor described the religious feelings of Southern rural people in “Wise Blood” (1952), and “The Violent Bear It Away” (1960).

Harper Lee wrote “То Kill a Mockingbird” (1960), a vivid novel of racism in a small Alabama town.

Jewish writers. Several Jewish writers of the postwar period dealt with Jewish life in the United States. Some of them told about the conflict between traditional Jewish life and modem, non-Jewish, American society. Saul Bellow, perhaps the most important postwar Jewish author, wrote such philosophical novels as «Herzog» (1964), «Mr. Sammler's Planet» (1970), «Humboldt's Gift» (1975), and “The Dean's December” (1982).

Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote novels and stories describing the difficulties of European-born Jews trying to adjust to American life. His works include the novel «Enemies: A Love Story» (1972), and «A Crown of Feathers” (1973), a collection of stories.

Bernard Malamud described the hard life of poor New York City Jews in «The Assistant” (1957), a novel, and «The Magic Barrel” (1958), a collection of stories.

Philip Roth caught the flavor of modern Jewish life in his novelette «Goodbye, Columbus” (1959), and his novel «Portnoy's Complaint” (1969).

The black experience. During the early 1950's, black novelists, playwrights, and poets became a vigorous element in American literature. Like the postwar Jewish authors, black writers explored their unique American experience. Many critics choose “Invisible Man” (1952) by Ralph Ellison as the greatest postwar novel about black life in the United States. James Baldwin, another leading black writer, began his career with «Go Tell It on the Mountain” (1953). He used Harlem in the 1930's as the setting of this autobiographical novel.

Ishmael Reed combined fantasy and reality to explore black American experience in such novels as «Mumbo Jumbo” (1972), and «Flight to Canada” (1975).

Toni Morrison provided a woman's perspective on the black experience in novels that blend realism with black folklore. Her major novels include «Song of Solomon» (1977), «Таr Baby» (1981), and «Beloved» (1987).

Several black writers produced widely praised non-fictional accounts of black life in America. The black leader Malcolm X presented a realistic story of his early life in «The Autobiography of Malcolm X» (1965). Eldridge Cleaver told of his life in prison in a group of essays called «Soul on Ice» (1968). In «Manchild in the Promised Land» (1965), Claude Brown described the difficulties of growing up in Harlem during the 1940's and 1950's. James Baldwin wrote about relations between blacks and whites in «The Fire Next Time» (1963). In «Roots» (1976), Alex Haley traced 200 years of his family history from Africa to the United States.

Black playwrights gained their first widespread acceptance during the postwar period. Lorraine Hansberry wrote a Broadway hit called «A Raisin in the Sun» (1959), a realistic drama about a black family in the Chicago ghetto. Ed Bullins became one of the most active forces in black drama as a writer, editor, and theater administrator. He won praise for such plays as «In the Wine Time» (1968), and «The Taking of Miss Janie» (1975).

The beat movement was the name given a group of writers of the 1950's. Most of these writers lived in New York City and San Francisco. The beats or beatniks, as they were called, condemned middle-class American life as morally bankrupt. They praised individualism as the highest human goal. The beat movement produced a few important works of fiction, especially «On the Road» (1957), an autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac. But most of the leading beat writers were poets. Allen Ginsberg, who was the most important of these poets, wrote the first beat work that attracted national attention. This book, «Howl, and Other Poems» (1956), is a violent but skillfully written protest against social injustice. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, another beat poet, wrote «A Coney Island of the Mind» (1958), a satiric criticism of American culture. During the 1960's, the beats became known as hippies or yippies. But the movement continued to rebel against cultural and social values in the United States.

The beat poets persuaded other poets to use extremely personal material as subject matter for poetry. The beats also influenced poetry by emphasizing ordinary conversational language, including profanity.

Nonfiction novel. The author of a nonfiction novel uses fictional techniques and a documentary style to tell about actual events and people. Truman Capote, the first to use the term, wrote perhaps the best-known example, «In Cold Blood» (1966). Capote based his book on the 1959 murder of a Kansas family. William Styron wrote «The Confessions of Nat Turner” (1967), a fictional description of a slave rebellion that took place in Virginia in 1831, John Hersey described the killing of several blacks during a 1967 riot in Detroit in «The Algiers Motel Incident” (1968). In «The Executioner's Song» (1979), Norman Mailer wrote a long, absorbing study of a criminal's life and execution for murder.

Women speak out. Beginning in the 1960's, a number of women's groups protested what they regarded as discrimination against women in the United States. Their activities became known as the Women's Liberation Movement. The movement inspired many books, both fiction and nonfiction, that deal with social and legal issues from a woman's point of view.

The most influential nonfiction books on women in modern life included «The Feminine Mystique» (1963), and «The Second Stage» (1981) by Betty Friedan and «Sexual Politics” (1970) by Kate Millett. Both writers attacked what they considered male exploitation of women. Several books expressed women's feelings about sex with a frankness rarely seen in previous fiction. Two of the best-known of these books are the novel “Fear of Flying” (1973) by Erica Jong and the collection of poems «Diving into the Wreck» (1973) by Adrienne Rich.

Several female authors gained acclaim, though their works were not directly connected with the Women's Liberation Movement. Mary McCarthy described the careers and personal lives of several young women in her novel «The Group» (1963). Susan Sontag examined modem life in both fiction and nonfiction. Her best-known writings include essays collected in «Against Interpretation” (1966). The most widely praised female writer who appeared in the 1960's is probably Joyce Carol Oates, who has produced many novels and short stories. In her novel «Them» (1969), she explored the violent lives of a woman and her son and daughter.

Black humor, a new approach in American fiction, developed during the 1960's. It combined comedy with serious subject matter. Authors inserted moments of hilarity into novels and stories that deal basically with depressing, painful, or violent subjects.

Vladimir Nabokov helped shape the black humor style. In such novels as «Pale Fire» (1962), he created a mixture of comedy, fantasy, and satire.

Perhaps the most widely read example of black humor was «Catch-22» (1961) by Joseph Heller. This novel concerns U.S. pilots during World War II. Heller used comedy to show the absurdities he saw in warfare and large military organizations. The most popular writer of black humor has probably been Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. He portrayed what he saw as the madness in society through novels that are both funny and tragic. Vonnegut's most important works include «Cat's Cradle» (1963) and «Slaughterhouse-Five» (1969).

John Barth used comic symbolism to describe the horrors he saw in modern life in «Giles Goat-Boy» (1966). In «One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest» (1962) by Ken Kesey, a mental hospital serves as a symbol of the modern world.

Donald Barthelme adopted a fairy-tale style in «Snow White» (1967) to describe what he considered the lunatic quality of modern society.

Jerzy Kosinski also wrote a kind of fairy tale in «The Painted Bird» (1965). This novel describes the adventures of a boy caught up in the brutality and terror of World War II.

Experimental fiction. Beginning in the 1960's, several writers experimented with new writing techniques in their fiction. They produced often difficult, disconnected narratives that reflect the influence of motion pictures and of such European writers as Franz Kafka. They drew attention to the artificial and unreliable qualities of fiction. Thomas Pynchon's «V.» (1963) and «Gravity's Rainbow” (1973) are perhaps the best examples of such fiction. Other experimental novels include Robert Coover's «The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.» (1968) and «The Public Burning” (1977), and Joan Didion's «A Book of Common Рrауеr» (1977) and «Democracy» (1984). John Hawkes's «The Lime Twig» (1961) and «The Passion Artist» (1979), and John Gardner's «The Sunlight Dialogues”(1972) and «October Light” (1976) are also experimental novels.

New playwrights. Several important playwrights emerged in the postwar period. Tennessee Williams explored the human mind in his bold psychological dramas most frequently performed works are two classics of the modern theater, «The Glass Menagerie» (1945) and «A Streetcar Named Desire» (1947).

William Inge wrote realistic, sympathetic dramas of middle-class life in the Midwest, as in «The Dark at the Top of the Stairs» (1957).

Arthur Miller blended symbolism with realism in many powerful plays of social protest. His best-known drama is «Death of a Salesman» (1949).

The most vigorous movement in modern drama in both Europe and the United States has been called the THEATER OF THE ABSURD Like writers of black humor, absurdist playwrights create basically nonrealistic works that stress the absurdity and lack of meaning that they see in modern life.

Edward Albee began his career as an absurdist playwright with two one-act plays, «The Sandbox» (1960) and «The American Dream» (1961). But Albee gained his greatest acclaim for «Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?» (1962), a savagely realistic study of marriage.

Many American playwrights, though they were not necessarily absurdist writers, used nonrealistic theatrical techniques. These playwrights included Arthur Kopit, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and David Rabe. Several of Rabe's plays, such as «Sticks and Bones» (1971) and «The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel» (1971), deal with the effects of the Vietnam War on American lives.

Sam Shepard mixed realistic and fantastic elements in his satirical attacks on American society in such works as «The Curse of the Starving Class» (1976) and «Buried Child» (1978).

David Mamet began to attract attention in the 1970's with plays such as «American Buffalo» (1975), which attacks American business. This play focuses on three men who are planning a robbery. Many critics praised Mamet's ability to turn ordinary, even crude, conversation into a kind of poetry. A number of women playwrights dealt with the special problems of women in modern American society. Important women dramatists of the late 1970's and the1980's include Beth Henley and Marsha Norman.

Neil Simon became the most commercially successful playwright in the history of American drama. He wrote a series of hit comedies, including several about the struggle of people to survive the hectic, impersonal pace of modem life. Simon's top comedies include «The Odd Couple» (1965) and «Brighton Beach Memoirs» (1983).