Readings
Writing
Ventures
External Sites
Today, America is seemingly defined by its popular culture, which has become a major export to the rest of the world. This has been a development of the last two centuries; in 1800, America had very little original culture at all, popular or otherwise. Think of all the media you enjoy -- when were they invented? Entertainment, sports, reading -- so much of our lives was something quite different in 1804 than it is in 2004.
This course explores this developing popular culture through a series of case studies covering the last two centuries. Among these are:
We will explore many more avenues than this, but all of them will be historical -- our treatment of more contemporary popular culture will be brief, although I hope you will make comparisons between our historical work and contemporary forms of culture throughout the course. Our work will also be analytical -- this is not a popular culture appreciation class -- focused particularly on the social history of popular culture. By this I mean we will interrogate question of social class, race, and gender when evaluating cultural forms and experiences.
This course explores a fascinating terrain -- it is, in essence, the history of fun in America. We will uncover many peculiar entertainment forms and characters. But at the same time, we will be doing very significant historical work: evaluating the history of not only American culture, but American society.
| If you find the reading challenging and are having a hard time keeping up or getting what you need out of the texts, see if any of my advice on solving the book blues helps. |
We will read the following books, which are available at Buffalo Street Books and are also on reserve in the library:
Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth (1791). A ghastly early novel full of melodrama. It is wonderfully horrible, and we will have much to say about early American culture based on this short novel.
P. T. Barnum, Struggles and Triumphs (1871). A wonderful autobiography of one of America's first popular culture businessman. His hilarious story of winning and losing several fortunes is so good that I went through all sorts of trouble to make excerpts from this out-of-print book available to you.
John Kasson, Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (1978). My favorite history book of all time. Brief, to the point, rich with images, this volume opens up a rich transition in the history of American culture.
E. R. Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes (1915). A gripping read, but -- let's be truthful -- another horrifying novel. Like Rowson's novel, this one allows us to discuss a whole range of issues of the time -- race, gender, modern life, and what was lacking in modern life. I love teaching this book, and I think you will get much out of it.
Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media (1995). A terrific book about the American 1950s and 60s, media generally, gender stereotypes and how they affected the growing youth culture. You are bound to understand your parents a bit better after reading this book!
Additional Readings. These are accessible through the web source JSTOR. You can get to these articles by clicking on them here. I suggesting printing them out rather than trying to scroll and read the pages on the screen:
[note: computers in the library and in IC computer labs will all arrive at these documents by clicking on them above. Home computers for IC faculty and students will not (including ones connecting through ResNet), because these databases will not recognize you as a subscriber. You can get to them, but you have to go to the IC library website, enter your password and all to gain access to these databases, then search the databases for the articles. Others not tied to IC will not be able to open these documents unless you have also paid a subscription to these services.]
Readings on the Olympics:
Read a few of these to get a sense of the immediacy of these events and how they were interpreted at the time. They are all worth exploring.
On Black Power at Mexco City's 1968 Olympics: NYT, 17 October 1968.
On the Munich terrorist kidnappings: NYT 6 Sept. 1972
On the "Miracle on Ice", Lake Placid: NYT, 23 February 1980:
[You can link to these directly from library and computer lab computers, but might not be able to from off campus and via ResNet. You can look them up yourself from there by searching the library's database "New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)" (you'll need to sign in with your email and password). To find the articles, type in the specific date and a keyword like "hockey", "munich", etc. Note also that you can change the image (upper right corner) to page view to see what else is in the paper and how it is presenting the article you are interested in. This is a great resource.]
Recommended Reading for all classes:
Writing:
We will explore the history of American popular culture through a number of
case studies, some of which will involve short "ventures" into materials
outside of class. For more on those, see below.
An early paper on the significance of the novel Charlotte Temple to American antebellum culture will help to get us started in this course.
At the end of the course, you will turn in a 7-9 page paper on some aspect of the history of popular culture in the United States. Together we will agree upon a topic, and I will ask for an outline and thesis for the paper several weeks before the end of class.
The essay exams for the midterm and final exams will be the other writing assignments. For each, you will be asked to write an in-class essay as well as several short answer questions. You will receive more elaborate instructions well before each exam.
I have developed two webpages giving:
Please look into them (and/or come see me) if you need/want any further help.Venture (ven´-cher), n. - 1. an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, esp. a risky or dangerous one. 2. a business enterprise or speculation in which something is risked in the hope of profit. v. - to take the risk of, brave the dangers of, dare [late ME var. of adventure]
On several occasions in this course, I will ask you to venture into a particular situation, text, or sources in an attempt to broaden your understanding of the experiences of various forms of popular culture in American history. These assignments will not be as analytical as our other written work - the goal here is not so much to test your critical thinking skills as to get you to connect with this material.
Venture
1
Photography -- Four very nice websites on 19th century photography are the
subject of this venture.
Venture
2
Early Motion Pictures -- Four websites that give great breadth to our understanding of early film and culture.
Venture 3
Popular Culture Documentaries -- from a range of possiblities, watch one terrific documentary about popular culture. Any of the others could be additional extra credit if you so choose.
Ventury-styled extra credit possibilities:
External Sites related to this course:
Print:
Photography:
Theater:
Motion Pictures:
Music:
Sports:
American Life:
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This website is occasionally maintained by Michael
Trotti.
(Last update: 20 April 2011). |