Literature of the 1970s The literature of the 1970’s contains a divergent amount of writers and genres. Poems, novels, and short stories are the main forms of expression, and these were produced by writers from around the world. “Many of the books in the 1970’s revolve around a general theme of man’s alienation from his spiritual roots”(Gillis). One author of the seventies is John Updike. He portrayed his characters “trying to find the meaning in a society spiritually empty and in a state of moral decay”(Gillis). Interest in the 1970’s focused on writers as disparate in the concerns and styles as V.S. Pritchett and Doris Lessing(“English Literature”). V.S. Pritchett is noted as a literary critic of remarkable education. She is also considered a master of the short story. Doris Lessing went from writing short stories collected as African novels concerning the role of women in contemporary society. “No playwright dominated this decade of both social and artistic unrest. Among the most acknowledged were Sam Shepherd, Lanford Wilson, David Mamet, and Neil Simon”(Gillis). Another noted playwright is Edward Franklin Albee. He is an American playwright whose most successful plays focus on familial relationships. His early plays are characterized by themes typical of the theater of the absurd. The characters suffer from an inability or unwillingness to communicate meaningfully or to sympathize or empathize with one another(“English Literature”). Another author of the seventies is Iris Murdoch. A teacher of philosophy as well as a writer, she is esteemed for slyly comic analyses of contemporary lives in her many novels such as The Black Prince. Murdoch’s effects are made by the contrast between her eccentric characters and the underlying seriousness of her ideas(“English Literature”). Eudora Welty, an American writer was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Some of her novels include The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, and Losing Hearts. Her skillful re-creation of regional patterns of speech and thought make her well-noted. “Welty’s main subject is the intricacies of human relationships, particularly as revealed through her characters’ interactions in intimate social encounters”(Eudora Welty: Biography). Most of her novels and short stories are tales of eccentric and even hideous characters. She portrays them with charm and sympathetic humor. Many of the stories that brought her fame first appeared in The New Yorker Magazine. Another American novelist during the seventies was Michael Shaara. He was a short-story writer whose writing on military matters is known for its historical accuracy and realism.
Eudora Alice Welty practically spent her whole life living in Mississippi. Mississippi is the setting in a large portion of her short stories and books. Most of her stories take place in Mississippi because she focuses on the manners of people living in a small Mississippi town. Writing about the lives of Mississippi folk is one main reason Welty is a known author. Welty’s stories are based upon the way humans interact in social encounters. She focuses on women’s situations and consciousness. Another thing she mostly focuses on is isolation. In almost all of Welty’s earlier stories the main character is always being isolated. Throughout her short stories, a hidden message is always evident. Eudora Welty does a wonderful job of exposing social prejudices in the form of buried messages.
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
The 1970’s was an era of political, environmental, and technological awareness. This era provided the American people with information and inventions that would positively shape the future of the United States. Awareness brings about optimistic thinking and change. This is exactly what happened in the 1970’s. Political awareness brought about accountability for the government and politicians. Environmental awareness brought about consumer and governmental accountability in energy usage. Inventions in the 1970’s were the platform for technology age that Americans currently rely on daily.
Kort, Carol. A to Z of American Women Writers. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print.
When I first read some of Miss Porter’s work, I came away feeling depressed, empty and wondering why she even wrote. Her stories seemed unfinished, incomplete and pointless. However, I find myself thinking about those works, discovering new things and realizing a deeper meaning in the stories.
In the mid 1900’s, America experienced many changes, from society and politics to religion and literature. Countries were facing the aftermath of World War II, and authors of the time reflected on how the world was dealing with the changes. Flannery O’Connor, a prominent Catholic writer from the South, was one of the many who examined society and shared their philosophies. O’Connor shocked her twentieth century readers with the haunting style and piercing questions in her short stories and novels, which were centered on a combination of her life experiences, her deep Catholic faith, and the literature of the time.
The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.
The nineteen fifties and sixties were a troubling time for Americans. Although the nation was prospering, a constant threat was hanging over the heads of every citizen. Oppressed classes found that they had more to fear than active members of society. Not only did they live in fear of attacks from another nation, but also attacks from fellow citizens of the United States. Women in America were subject to objectification from the men with whom they lived, and in turn began to question the purpose of existence. Neo-romanticism became a popular ideology once again, leading women to yearn for a life outside of the ones that they were living. The late fifties and early sixties reintroduced several radical ideologies such as: feminism, existentialism, and romanticism, all of which proved fatal for Sylvia Plath.
Music is an outlet to all aspects of life and culture is a significant way of forming people and the way they live. Although not always seen directly culture has an overbearing influence on the music that is produced and made popular. The political Climate of the early seventies was full of fire with issues such as Vietnam and constant protest throughout the county. Later in the 70’s the end of the Vietnamese conflict brought the rise of the Watergate scandal and Iran Contra. These issues swept headlines and ingrained people’s thoughts. Social issues also played a big role in the developing culture of the seventies. Protests and constant outbreaks about gay rights and women’s rights seemed to overtake the country in storm. Later in the Decade the social climate changed to a celebration of the Past and a can-do attitude. Political and Social climates had an overbearing influence on the attitude that was being developed throughout the seventies. This climate was also transparent in the music world of this decade. In the early 70’s music lyrics were being created that were representative of the popular method of protest and social change. Music is a common way of expression and during this time artist and groups took the most of their popular music by expressing viewpoints on present issues. In the mid to late seventies the birth of new styles that broke from the old seemed to dominate the music industry. These new types of music ranged from disco to television pop. The music of the decade represented the culture and was greatly influenced by events and beliefs of the 70’s. At this time in American history, music and life became closely nit. In the late 1970’s, national issues settl...
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. Print.
May, C. E. (2012). Critical Survey of Short Fiction: World Writers (4th ed.). Ipswich: Salem Press.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, literature changed and focused on breaking away from the typical and predicate patterns of normal literature. Poets at this time took full advantage and stretched the idea of the mind’s conscience on how the world, mind, and language interact and contradict. Many authors, such as Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Twain, used the pain and anguish in first hand experiences to create and depict a new type of literature, modernism. In this time era, literature and art became a larger part of society and impacted more American lives than ever before. During the American modernism period of literature, authors, artists, and poets strived to create pieces of literature and art that challenged American traditions and tried to reinvent it, used new ways of communication, such as the telephone and cinema, to demonstrate the new modern social norms, and express the pain and suffering of the First World War.
Gilbert, Sandra, and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and The Nineteenth-Centurv Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979.
There is no doubt that the literary written by men and women is different. One source of difference is the sex. A woman is born a woman in the same sense as a man is born a man. Certainly one source of difference is biological, by virtue of which we are male and female. “A woman´s writing is always femenine” says Virginia Woolf
The emergence of black women writers on the American literary scene was not a sudden or a fortuitous event.Their bursting on to the scene was a result of the new found consciousness of black American women.They were increasingly becoming conscious of the racist and patriarchal oppression that they were being subjected to in America.By the 1970's the black women had the knowledge that both-The Civil Rights Movement and The Feminist Movement were neglecting the issues relating to black women.Despite being active participants in both the move...