American Culture in the 1980s (Twentieth Century American Culture S.)

257 Pages·2007·0.75 MB·English

by  Graham Thompson

T W E N T I E T H - C E N T U R Y A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E T W E N T I E T H - C E N T U R Y A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E
A
Series Editor: Martin Halliwell American Culture
m
This series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in the twentieth century.
Each title covers a specific decade and offers a clear overview of its dominant cultural forms and e
influential texts, discussing their historical impact and cultural legacy. Collectively the series ir in the 1980s
reframes the notion of ‘decade studies’ through the prism of cultural production and rethinks the c
ways in which decades are usually periodised. Broad contextual approaches to the particular a
decade are combined with textual case studies, focusing on themes of modernity, commerce, n
freedom, power, resistance, community, race, class, gender, sexuality, internationalism, war,
C
technology and popular culture.
u
l
t
American Culture in the 1980s u
r
e
Graham Thompson

i
n
‘A fresh angle on cultural works recent enough to exist in the collective
memory, but also now distant enough to warrant analytical consideration
t
within a discrete historical framework’ h
Paul Giles, Professor of American Literature, University of Oxford e

1
This book looks beyond the common label of ‘Ronald Reagan’s America’ to chart the complex 9
intersection of cultures in the 1980s. In doing so it provides an insightful account of the major
8
cultural forms of 1980s America – literature and drama; film and television; music and performance;
0
art and photography – and influential texts and trends of the decade: from White Noise to Wall
s
Street, from Silicon Valley to MTV, and from Madonna to Cindy Sherman. A focused chapter
considers the changing dynamics of American culture in an increasingly globalised marketplace. G

r
Key Features: a
h
• Focused case studies featuring key texts, genres, writers, artists and cultural trends a
m
•
Chronology of 1980s American culture

• Bibliographies for each chapter T
• h
Ten black-and-white illustrations
o
m
Graham Thompson is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham. He
p
is author of The Business of America: The Cultural Production of a Post-War Nation (2004) and Male s
o
Sexuality under Surveillance: The Office in American Literature (2003).
n
ISBN 978 0 7486 1910 8 E
Cover image: Top Gun (1986), Tony Scott, Director. d
Paramount/The Kobal Collection i
n
Cover design: Cathy Sprent b
Edinburgh University Press u
22 George Square r
Edinburgh EH8 9LF g Graham Thompson
h
www.eup.ed.ac.uk
American Culture in the 1980s
Twentieth-Century American Culture
Series editor: Martin Halliwell, University of Leicester.
This series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in
the twentieth century. Each title covers a specific decade and offers a clear
overview of its dominant cultural forms and influential texts, discussing their
historical impact and cultural legacy. Collectively the series reframes the
notion of ‘decade studies’ through the prism of cultural production and
rethinks the ways in which decades are usually periodized. Broad contextual
approaches to the particular decade are combined with focused case studies,
dealing with themes of modernity, commerce, freedom, power, resistance,
community, race, class, gender, sexuality, internationalism, technology, war
and popular culture.
American Culture in the 1910s
Mark Whalan
American Culture in the 1920s
Susan Currell
American Culture in the 1930s
David Eldridge
American Culture in the 1940s
Jacqueline Foertsch
American Culture in the 1950s
Martin Halliwell
American Culture in the 1960s
Sharon Monteith
American Culture in the 1970s
Will Kaufman
American Culture in the 1980s
Graham Thompson
American Culture in the 1990s
Colin Harrison
American Culture in the 1980s
Graham Thompson
Edinburgh University Press
city centre, always
© Graham Thompson, 2007
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
Typeset in 11/13 pt Stempel Garamond by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wilts
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 1909 2 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 1910 8 (paperback)
The right of Graham Thompson to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published with the support of the Edinburgh University Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund.
Contents
List of Figures vi
List of Case Studies vii
Acknowledgements viii
Chronology of 1980s American Culture ix
Introduction: The Intellectual Context 1
1. Fiction and Poetry 37
2. Art and Photography 63
3. Film and Television 89
4. Music and Performance 123
5. American Culture and Globalization 153
Conclusion: The Cultural Legacy of the 1980s 179
Notes 185
Bibliography 197
Index 221
Figures
1.1 In Country(1989) 54
2.1 Basquiat(1996) 69
3.1 Top Gun(1986) 95
3.2 Back to the Future(1985) 105
3.3 Blue Velvet(1984) 107
3.4 Wall Street(1987) 109
3.5 J. R. Ewing of Dallas 116
3.6 The cast of Hill Street Blues(1981–7) 120
4.1 Do the Right Thing(1989) 126
4.2 Michael Jackson in the ‘Thriller’ video (1983) 128
4.3 Desperately Seeking Susan(1985) 132
5.1 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial 174
Case Studies
Introduction
Televangelism 16
Silicon Valley 27
The Closing of the American Mind(1987) 34
1.Fiction and Poetry
White Noise(1985) 46
In Country(1985) 52
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza(1987) 59
2.Art and Photography
Jean-Michel Basquiat 67
Jeff Koons 71
Cindy Sherman 81
3.Film and Television
Top Gun(1986) 93
Wall Street(1987) 107
Hill Street Blues(1981–7) 117
4.Music and Performance
Madonna 129
Public Enemy 144
Split Britches Company 150
5.American Culture and Globalization
CNN 158
Disneyland Resort Paris 165
The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington 171
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to several people who have helped in the writing of this
book. Martin Halliwell has been a patient and supportive Series Editor,
while all the staff at Edinburgh University Press – Nicola Ramsey,
James Dale, Esmé Watson and Stuart Midgley – have been impeccably
efficient and helpful. Thanks to Sarah MacLachlan for prompting me
to re-read In Country, to Paul Grainge and Julian Stringer for their
help with film matters, and to Celeste-Marie Bernier for her advice on
art. I am grateful to Paul Giles for his initial comments on the book
proposal and to Sharon Monteith for sharing conversations about
decades. Thanks also to the University of Nottingham for providing
the study leave that enabled the completion of the book.
Chronology of
1980s American Culture