American Culture in the 1920s (Twentieth-Century American Culture) PDF
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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 American Culture in the 1920s Susan Currell American Culture in the 1920s Twentieth-Century American Culture Series Editor: Martin Halliwell, Professor of American Studies, University of Leicester This series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in the twentieth century. Each title covers a specifi c decade and offers a clear overview of its dominant cultural forms and infl uential 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 periodised. 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 1920s Susan Currell Edinburgh University Press In memory of Vivien Hart © Susan Currell, 2009 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh www.euppublishing.com Typeset in 11/13 pt Stempel Garamond by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2521 5 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2522 2 (paperback) The right of Susan Currell to be identifi ed 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 1920s American Culture ix Introduction: The Intellectual Context 1 1. Fiction, Poetry and Drama 35 2. Music and Performance 71 3. Film and Radio 103 4. Visual Art and Design 135 5. Consumption and Leisure 169 Conclusion: The Cultural Legacy of the 1920s 197 Notes 203 Bibliography 235 Index 247 Figures I.1 Women in Ku Klux Klan demonstration 31 1.1 Paul Robeson in The Emperor Jones (1933) 50 2.1 Kid Ory with his Original Creole Jazz Band 76 2.2 The King of Jazz (1930) 82 2.3 Our Dancing Daughters (1928) 97 2.4 The Jazz Singer (1927) 100 3.1 Colleen Moore 111 3.2 Clara Bow 114 3.3 Son of the Sheik (1926) 115 3.4 Sunrise (1927) 117 3.5 Harold Lloyd in Never Weaken (1921) 118 4.1 Charles Demuth, My Egypt (1927) 140 4.2 G eorgia O’Keeffe, The Radiator Building – Night, New York (1927) 153 4.3 Lewis Hine, Power House Mechanic (1920) 165 5.1 ‘Calvin Coolidge Plays for Big Business’ 170 5.2 Coney Island Beach 185 5.3 New York Times headline reporting Charles Lindbergh’s successful transatlantic fl ight 194 Case Studies Introduction Fordism and Culture 6 The Scopes Trial, 1925 16 The Rising Tide of Color (1920) 22 1. Fiction, Poetry and Drama F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) 41 Eugene O’Neill 48 Jean Toomer, Cane (1923) 61 2. Music and Performance Bessie Smith 79 The Harlem Renaissance Jazz of Henderson and Ellington 85 The Charleston 94 3. Film and Radio Clara Bow and IT (1927) 112 Nanook of the North (1922) 119 Oscar Micheaux and ‘Race Movies’ 124 4. Visual Art and Design Machine Art Exhibition, 1927 143 Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, Manhatta (1921) 148 Georgia O’Keeffe’s Skyscraper Aesthetic 154 5. Consumption and Leisure The Culture and Business of Prohibition 176 Middletown (1929) 181 Charles Lindbergh’s Transatlantic Flight (1927) 191 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the University of Sussex and the Arts and Humanities Research Council of Great Britain for funding the research leave that made this book possible. Thanks also to series editor Martin Halliwell for his patient encouragement and unstinting support, and also to Nicola Ramsey and staff at Edinburgh University Press. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends at the University of Sussex who supported this research and helped me at various stages, either by honouring my leave, taking over my teaching or giving con- structive advice. Thanks also to Berit Potter at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Judy Lopez at the O’Keeffe Museum. My other thanks go to all the friends and family who enquired after my progress and the numerous enthusiasts who have taken time to make docu- ments, music and fi lms from the 1920s available over the internet. My greatest debt is to Warren Pleece, who has done more to support the writing of this book than I can begin to describe. I dedi- cate this book to you and our amazing sons, Frank and Georgy Pleece: your gracious tolerance and generosity towards this book has been truly humbling. Chronology of 1920s American Culture
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