Visions of Belonging

Informationen zum Autor Judith E. Smith Klappentext Visions of Belonging explores how beloved and still-remembered family stories -- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! I Remember Mama! Gentleman's Agreement! Death of a Salesman! Marty! and A Raisin in the Sun -- entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950s. These stories helped define widely shared conceptions of who counted as representative Americans and who could be recognized as belonging. The book listens in as white and black authors and directors! readers and viewers reveal divergent! emotionally textured! and politically charged social visions. Their diverse perspectives provide a point of entry into an extraordinary time when the possibilities for social transformation seemed boundless. But changes were also fiercely contested! especially as the war's culture of unity receded in the resurgence of cold war anticommunism! and demands for racial equality were met with intensifying white resistance. Judith E. Smith traces the cultural trajectory of these family stories! as they circulated widely in bestselling paperbacks! hit movies! and popular drama on stage! radio! and television. Visions of Belonging provides unusually close access to a vibrant conversation among white and black Americans about the boundaries between public life and family matters and the meanings of race and ethnicity. Would the new appearance of white working class ethnic characters expand Americans'understanding of democracy? Would these stories challenge the color line? How could these stories simultaneously show that black families belonged to the larger "family" of the nation while also representing the forms of danger and discriminations that excluded them from full citizenship? In the 1940s! war-driven challenges to racial and ethnic borderlines encouraged hesitant trespass against older notions of "normal." But by the end of the 1950s! the cold war cultural atmosphere discouraged probing of racial and social inequality and ultimately turned family stories into a comforting retreat from politics. The book crosses disciplinary boundaries! suggesting a novel method for cultural history by probing the social history of literary! dramatic! and cinematic texts. Smith's innovative use of archival research sets authorial intent next to audience reception to show how both contribute to shaping the contested meanings of American belonging. Zusammenfassung Explores how the family stories entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950s. This book also provides access to a vibrant conversation among white and black Americans about the boundaries between public life and family matters! and the meanings of race and ethnicity. Inhaltsverzeichnis AcknowledgmentsPart 1 Ordinary Families! Popular Culture! and Popular Democracy! 1935-1945Radio's Formula DramaPopular Theater and Popular DemocracyPopular Democracy on the RadioPopular Democracy in Wartime: Multiethnic and Multiracial?Representing the SoldierThe New World of the Home FrontSoldiers as Veterans: Imagining the Postwar WorldLooking Back StoriesPart 2 Making the Working-Class Family Ordinary: A Tree Grows in BrooklynFrom Working-Class Daughter to Working-Class WriterRevising 1930s Radical VisionsRemembering a Working-Class PastInstructing the Middle ClassThe Ethnic and Racial Boundaries of the OrdinaryMaking Womanhood OrdinaryHollywood Revises A Tree Grows in BrooklynThe Declining Appeal of Tree's Social TerrainPart 3 Home Front Harmony and Remembering Mama"Mama's Bank Account" and Other Ethnic Working-Class FictionsRemembering Mama on the StageThe Mother Next Door on Film! 1947-1948Mama on CBS! 1949-1956The Appeal of TV Mama's Ordinary Family"Trading Places" StoriesPart 4 Loving A...

Autorentext
Judith E. Smith

Klappentext
Visions of Belonging explores how beloved and still-remembered family stories -- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I Remember Mama, Gentleman's Agreement, Death of a Salesman, Marty, and A Raisin in the Sun -- entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950s. These stories helped define widely shared conceptions of who counted as representative Americans and who could be recognized as belonging. The book listens in as white and black authors and directors, readers and viewers reveal divergent, emotionally textured, and politically charged social visions. Their diverse perspectives provide a point of entry into an extraordinary time when the possibilities for social transformation seemed boundless. But changes were also fiercely contested, especially as the war's culture of unity receded in the resurgence of cold war anticommunism, and demands for racial equality were met with intensifying white resistance. Judith E. Smith traces the cultural trajectory of these family stories, as they circulated widely in bestselling paperbacks, hit movies, and popular drama on stage, radio, and television. Visions of Belonging provides unusually close access to a vibrant conversation among white and black Americans about the boundaries between public life and family matters and the meanings of race and ethnicity. Would the new appearance of white working class ethnic characters expand Americans'understanding of democracy? Would these stories challenge the color line? How could these stories simultaneously show that black families belonged to the larger "family" of the nation while also representing the forms of danger and discriminations that excluded them from full citizenship? In the 1940s, war-driven challenges to racial and ethnic borderlines encouraged hesitant trespass against older notions of "normal." But by the end of the 1950s, the cold war cultural atmosphere discouraged probing of racial and social inequality and ultimately turned family stories into a comforting retreat from politics. The book crosses disciplinary boundaries, suggesting a novel method for cultural history by probing the social history of literary, dramatic, and cinematic texts. Smith's innovative use of archival research sets authorial intent next to audience reception to show how both contribute to shaping the contested meanings of American belonging.

Zusammenfassung
Explores how the family stories entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950s. This book also provides access to a vibrant conversation among white and black Americans about the boundaries between public life and family matters, and the meanings of race and ethnicity.

Inhalt
Acknowledgments Part 1 Ordinary Families, Popular Culture, and Popular Democracy, 1935-1945 Radio's Formula Drama Popular Theater and Popular Democracy Popular Democracy on the Radio Popular Democracy in Wartime: Multiethnic and Multiracial? Representing the Soldier The New World of the Home Front Soldiers as Veterans: Imagining the Postwar World Looking Back Stories Part 2 Making the Working-Class Family Ordinary: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn From Working-Class Daughter to Working-Class Writer Revising 1930s Radical Visions Remembering a Working-Class Past Instructing the Middle Class The Ethnic and Racial Boundaries of the Ordinary Making Womanhood Ordinary Hollywood Revises A Tree Grows in Brooklyn The Declining Appeal of Tree's Social Terrain Part 3 Home Front Harmony and Remembering Mama "Mama's Bank Account" and Other Ethnic Working-Class Fictions Remembering Mama on the Stage The Mother Next Door on Film, 1947-1948 Mama on CBS, 1949-1956 The Appeal of TV Mama's Ordinary Family "Trading Places" Stories Part 4 Loving Across Prewar Racial and Sexual Boundaries Lillian Smith and Strange Fruit Quality Reinstates the Color Line Strange Fruit as Failed Social Drama The Returning Negro Soldier, Interracial Romance, and Deep Are the Roots…

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