FAR FROM THE FIFTIES: THE POST-WAR ERA IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

This panel is a work in progress for the American Studies Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, November 11-14, 2004. The topic of the meeting is "Crossroads of Cultures."

As recent films such as Far From Heaven, Pleasantville, and The Talented Mr. Ripley exemplify, the decade of the 1950s is very much present in contemporary popular culture. Similarly, contemporary politics is rife with references to the post- war era: from the invoking of sexual McCarthyism during the Clinton scandals to the labeling of the national security policies of the current Bush administration as the New Cold War. This panel will examine how contemporary representations of the post-war era might compel a re-interpretation of the 1950s and why the decade is being used to analyze and comment on present-day culture. Papers on film and other aspects of cultural production (such as food, fads, fashion and design, music, architecture, television), as well as papers on politics and cultural values more generally, are welcome. Please send a 500 word abstract and c.v. by December 1, 2003 to Lori Harrison-Kahan via email.