Consuming Pleasures: Intellectuals and Popular Culture in the Postwar World

Description

Between 1950 and 1972, American and European writers came to envision consumer culture in fresh, provocative ways. Across national boundaries, they shifted attention from condemnation to critical appreciation, critiqued cultural hierarchies and moralistic approaches, and explored the symbolic processes by which individuals and groups communicate. Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction. Understanding Consumer Culture in the Post-World War II World -- Chapter 1. For and Against the American Grain -- Chapter 2. Lost in Translation -- Chapter 3. Crossing Borders -- Chapter 4. Reluctant Fascination -- Chapter 5. Literary Ethnography of Working-Class Life -- Interlude -- Chapter 6. Pop Art from Britain to America -- Chapter 7. From Workers and Literature to Youth and Popular Culture -- Chapter 8. Class and Consumption -- Chapter 9. Sexuality and a New Sensibility -- Chapter 10. Learning from Consumer Culture -- Conclusion. The World of Pleasure and Symbolic Exchange -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments.