America Under Construction
Boundaries and Identities in Popular Culture
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Book Description
A variety of theoretical approaches to the study of culture have emphasised the significance of the creation, maintenance, and the transgression of boundaries to identities – be they social, cultural, national or personal. The essays collected in this book, first published in 1997, explore the creation of identities in American culture through analysis of the boundaries within and across which American identity is negotiated. The dissemination of cultural identity and the creation of national identity through this process has had a crucial impact on the shape of social life in post-war American culture. The contributors to this volume offer a variety of perspectives on this richly complicated process.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction Kristi S. Long and Matthew Nadelhaft 2. Maturity and Masculinity: Frank Sinatra in the 1950s Susan Nanes 3. Charlie Parker and the American Soundscape Jay Bregman 4. Urban Graffiti: Control, Resistance, and Alternative Arrangements Jeff Ferrell 5. More Smoke Than Fire Cecil Kirk Hutson 6. ‘Social Distortion’: The Rise of Suburban Punk Rock in Los Angeles Dewar MacLeod 7. Rock Lyrics, Advertising, and the Parents’ Music Resource Center Kristi S. Long 8. Death, Religion, and Wrestling: A Serious Undertaking Matthew Nadelhaft 9. How We Dress Dead People Carol F. Coleman