The end of the American avant garde
By: Stuart D. Hobbs.
Series: The American social experience series ;; 37
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 230
Subjects: Avant-garde (Aesthetics) -- United States -- History -- 20th century; United States -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
Description: In the first half of the twentieth century, the United States served as home to an avant garde that existed in contradiction to the consumer culture identified with modern industrial capitalism. Composed of a remarkable group of musicians, writers, and artists, these intellectuals used their talents to express a profound alienation from their culture and a belief that, through the integration of art and life, a new consciousness could be created and American culture thereby transformed.

How did the avant garde dissolve, and why? In this thought-provoking work, Stuart D. Hobbs traces the avant garde from its origins to its eventual appropriation by a conservative political agenda, consumer culture, and the institutional world of art. He synthesizes the work of literary, art, and music historians with a fresh examination of primary source materials, giving the reader a unique perspective on the intellectual and cultural history of this country.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-224) and index.
Table of contents: title: Toward the last American vanguard, 1930-1955. Introduction : the avant garde and the culture of the future; title: The communist party, modernism, and the avant garde; title: The American avant garde, 1945-1960. Alienation; title: Innovation; title: The future; title: The end of the avant garde, 1950-1965. The cold war, cultural radicalism, and the defense of capitalism; title: Institutional enthrallment; title: Consumer culture commodification; title: The end of the avant garde, 1965-1995. The convention of innovation and the end of the future.