The End of the American Avant Garde

244 Pages·1997·130.849 MB·English

by  Stuart D. Hobbs

The En d
of the
American
Avant Gard e
THE AMERICA N SOCIA L EXPERIENC E SERIE S
James Kirby Martin
GENERAL EDITO R
Paula S. Fass, Steven H. Mintz,
Carl Prince, James W. Reed & Peter N Stearns
EDITORS
1. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Shermans Troops in the Savannah
and Carolinas Campaigns
JOSEPH T . GLATTHAA R
2. Childhearing in American Society: 1650-1850
CATHERINE M . SCHOLTE N
3. The Origins of Behaviorism: American Psychology, 1810-1920
JOHN M . O'DONNEL L
4. New York City Cartmen, 1667-1850
GRAHAM RUSSEL L HODGE S
5. From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights: Alice Paul and the
National Woman's Party, 1910-1928
CHRISTINE A . LUNARDIN I
6. Mr. Jeffersons Army: Political and Social Reform of the
Military Establishment, 1801-1809
THEODORE J . CRACKE L
7. "A Peculiar People": Slave Religion and
Community-Culture among the Gullahs
MARGARET WASHINGTO N CREE L
8. UA Mixed Multitude": The Struggle for Toleration in Colonial Pennsylvania
SALLY SCHWART Z
9. Women, Work, and Fertility, 1900-1986
SUSAN HOUSEHOLDE R VA N HOR N
10. Liberty, Virtue, and Progress: Northerners and Their War for the Union
EARL J . HES S
11. Lewis M. Terman: Pioneer in Psychological Testing
HENRY L . MINTO N
12. Schools as Sorters: Lewis M. Terman, Applied Psychology, and the Intelligence
Testing Movement, 1890-1930
PAUL DAVI S CHAPMA N
13. Free Love: Marriage and Middle-Class Radicalism in America, 1825-1860
JOHN C . SPURLOC K
14. Jealousy: The Evolution of an Emotion in American History
PETER N . STEARN S
15. The Nurturing Neighborhood: The Brownsville Boys Club and Jewish
Community in Urban America, 1940-1990
GERALD SORI N
16. War in America to 1775: Before Yankee Doodle
JOHN MORGA N DEDERE R
17. An American Vision: Far Western Landscape and National Culture,
1820-1920
ANNE FARRA R HYD E
18. Frederick Law Olmsted: The Passion of a Public Artist
MELVIN KALFU S
19. Medical Malpractice in Nineteenth-Century America: Origins and Legacy
KENNETH ALLE N D E VILL E
20. Dancing in Chains: The Youth of William Dean Howells
RODNEY D . OLSE N
21. Breaking the Bonds: Marital Discord in
Pennsylvania, 1730-1830
MERRIL D . SMIT H
22. In the Web of Class: Delinquents and Reformers in Boston,
1810s-1930s
ERIC C . SCHNEIDE R
23. Army of Manifest Destiny: The American Soldier in the Mexican War,
1846-1848
JAMES M . MCCAFFRE Y
24. The Dutch-American Farm
DAVID STEVE N COHE N
25. Independent Intellectuals in the United States, 1910-1945
STEVEN BIE L
26. The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving
WILLIAM B . WAIT S
21. The First Sexual Revolution: The Emergence of Male Heterosexuality
in Modern America
KEVIN WHIT E
28. Bad Habits: Drinking, Smoking, Taking Drugs, Gambling, Sexual Misbehavior,
and Swearing in American History
JOHN C . BURNHA M
29. General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution:
From Redcoat to Rebel
HAL T . SHELTO N
30. From Congregation Town to Industrial City: Culture and Social Change
in a Southern Community
MICHAEL SHIRLE Y
31. The Social Anxieties of Progressive Reform: Atlantic City, 1854-1920
MARTIN PAULSSO N
32. America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army
CHARLES PATRIC K NEIMEYE R
33. American Women and the Repeal of Prohibition
KENNETH D . ROS E
34. Making Men Moral: Social Engineering During the Great War
NANCY K . BRISTO W
35. Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies
ELAINE G . BRESLA W
36. Yankee Town, Southern City: Race and Class Relations in
Civil War Lynchburg
STEVEN ELLIOT T TRIP P
31. The End of the American Avant Garde
STUART D . HOBB S
The En d
of the
American
Avant Gard e
Stuart D . Hobb s
n
N EW Y O R K U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
New York and London
N EW Y O R K U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
New York and London
® 1997 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hobbs, Stuart D. (Stuart Dale), 1961-
The end of the American avant garde / Stuart D. Hobbs.
p. cm . — (The American social experience series ; 37)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Toward the last American vanguard,
1930-1955. Introduction : the avant garde and the culture of the
future—The communist party, modernism, and the avant garde—The
American avant garde, 1945-1960. Alienation—Innovation—The
future—The end of the avant garde, 1950-1965. The cold war,
cultural radicalism, and the defense of captalism—Institutional
enthrallment—Consumer culture commodification—The end of the
avant garde, 1965-1995. The convention of innovation and the end of
the future
ISBN 0-8147-3538-X (alk. paper)
I. United States—Intellectual life—20th century. 2 . Avant-garde
(Aesthetics)—United States—History—20th century. I . Title.
II. Series .
E169.12.H59 199 7
973_dc20 96-3560 4
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Jamie

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
PART I Towar d the Last American Vanguard, 1930-1955
1 Introduction : The Avant Garde and the Culture of
the Future 3
2 Th e Communist Party, Modernism, and the Avant
Garde 1 9
PART II Th e American Avant Garde, 1945-1960
3 Alienatio n 4 1
4 Innovatio n 5 9
5 Th e Future 9 3
PART III Th e End of the Avant Garde, 1950-1965
6 Th e Cold War, Cultural Radicalism, and the Defense
of Capitalism 11 5
7 Institutiona l Enthrallment 12 5
8 Consume r Culture Commodification 13 9
PART IV Th e End of the Avant Garde, 1965-1995
9 Th e Convention of Innovation and the End of the
Future 17 1
Notes 187
Bibliographical Essay 21 5
Index 225
ix