Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Because of the press of time, the instructor often must either omit or condense material at the end of the
term. The tendency, therefore, is to rush through the last class lectures without much thought to the
teaching model. Yet, these last lectures sometimes demand the most care in determining teaching
strategies. The instructor should not fall into the trap of simply giving an encyclopedic listing of events
and names just to cover the material in the final chapter. A minimum of three lectures should be
scheduled for the last chapter.
Since the time frame in Chapter 21 is approximately fifty years, the instructor need not begin with the
standard Historical Overview but can open the final set of lectures regarding Late Modernism and Post-
Modernism with either the Spirit of the Age or the Comparison/Contrast approach. The Patterns of
Change model and/or the Diffusion model can then be used effectively with two major topics: first, the
distinctions between Late Modernism and Post-Modernism, and second, the globalization of bad culture,
particularly under Post-Modernism. In the closing lecture, the instructor can use the
Reflections/Connections approach to make some educated guesses about the future of the emerging
global culture. Such remarks must, of necessity, be guarded and can touch on such matters as impending
directions of political, social, and economic trends; the projected influence of such trends on intellectual,
literary, and artistic developments; and finally, the continuing relationship between the world today and
the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt where Western civilization arose almost 5,000 years ago.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Characteristics of the Age of Anxiety and Beyond:
Late Modernism and Post-Modernism
83
B. Toward a new global order, 19701994
1. National issues and international realignment
a)Economic trends and crises
b)Domestic challenges and changes
in the United States and Soviet Union
2. Problems with a global dimension
a)Exploding populations
b)Growing environmental issues
C. The post-cold war world
1. The emergence of the United States as the only superpower
a)Survey of other global power
b)Resurgence of late-nineteenth-century trends:
nationalism and ethnic violence
c)The global economy and regional economic alliances
2. Post-Modernism and American culture
84
4.Chinese-American writerMaxine Hong Kingston
E. Late Modernism and the arts
1. Painting
a)Pollock
b)Rothko
c)Frankenthaler
d)Johns
e)Rauschenberg
f)Warhol
2. Sculpture
a)Smith
b)Nevelson
c)Segal
3. ArchitectureMies van der Rohe
F.Post-Modernism and the arts
1.Painting
a)Pearlstein
b)Kiefer
c)Coe
d)Blake
e)Stella
2.Sculpture
a)De Andrea
b)Whiteread
3.Installation art
a)Definition
b)Hamilton
4.Video art
a)Definition
b)Paik
5.Architecture
a)Venturi
b)Rogers and Piano
c)Johnson
d)Gehry
G.Late Modern and Post-Modern music
1.Stravinsky
2.Penderecki
3.Cage
4.Glass
5.Wilson
6.Adams
H.Performance art
1.Anderson
2.Sherman
I.Mass culture
1.More technology and communication
2.Popular music
85
IV. A Summing Up
86
NON-
WESTERN EVENTS
1945
87
civil war with Communists In India, end of British raj,
victorious; Nationalists flee 1947; partition of India
to Taiwan after defeat; into modern countries of
Communist government India and Pakistan (East
led by Mao Zedong, 1949 and West); war between
1976; Great Leap Forward the two Pakistans leads
virtually eliminated to a separation into two
houseflies, mosquitoes, states, Pakistan and
rats, and bedbugs Bangladesh, 1971; the age-
over wide areas, 1957; old untouchability caste
culturalrevolution (15 percent of the
of the 1960s had population) outlawed,
disastrous impact on though vestiges remain,
traditional Chinese culture; 1946; The Apu Trilogy,
Quotations of Chairman films by Satyajit Ray,
Mao, 1966; China 1954-1958; The Middleman and
exploded a hydrogen Other Stories by Bharati
bomb, 1967; rapprochement Mukherjee, 1988; Anita
with United States, 1971; Desais Fire on the
ascendancy of Deng Mountain, a novel dealing
Xiaoping, a pragmatic with the plight of women
leader, 19761989; in India, 1977; Salman
economic reform and Rushdies Midnights
political retrenchment Children, a novel about
since about 1978; Hindu-Muslim identity,
Beijings Fragrant Hills 1980; U. R. Anantha
Hotel, designed by Murthys Samskara, a
Chinese-American I. M. novel in the Kannada
Pei opens, 1982; Massacre language that explores the
of Tiananmen Square, passing of the Brahman
Beijing, 1989; resurgence tradition, 1965; Zubin
of hard-liners, 1989 Mehta, Indian-born
In Himalaya region, Malla conductor, chosen to lead
dynasty, 1768present; the New York
Gurkhali-style architecture, Philharmonic, 1978; Ravi
mixing archaic with French Shankar, b. 1920, sitar
and Italian influence; in player; Mother Teresa of
Tibet, Lamaistic state, about Calcutta, Nobel Peace
1450 to 1950s, when Prize, 1979
Chinese rule began; the In Indochina, in Myanmar
Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace (Burma), Daw Aung San
Prize, 1989 Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace
In Hong Kong, the Bank of Prize, 1991
China Building, designed In Japan, Showa period,
by the Chinese American 19261989; Western-style
I. M. Pei, 1989; transfer of constitution, 1946; women
Hong Kong to China, gain the right to vote,
July 1, 1997 1946; land reform, tenant
88
farmers decline from writers; Chushingura, a film
nearly one-half to one- by Hiroshi Imagaki, 1962;
tenth the population, 1946; Woman in the Dunes, a film
Prime Minister Yasukiro by Hiroshi Teshigahara,
Nakasone, the Japanese 1964, based on the novel of
Reagan, two terms in the the same name by Abe
1980s; the Idiot, a short Kobo, 1962; Japan became
story by Ango Sakaguchi, the free worlds second
1946; The Setting Sun, a strongest economic power,
novel by Osamu Dazai in 1968; Yusunari Kawabata,
about the decline of 18991972, author of the
aristocratic life, 1947; novel Snow Country, 1948
Confessions of a Mask, a and recipient of Nobel Prize
semi-autobiographical for literature, 1968;
novel by Yukio Mishima, Minoru Takeyama,
1948; No Consultation architect designer of
Today, a short story by Tokyo department store;
Masuji Ibuse, 1949; Junji Tange Kenzo, designer
Kinoshita, b. 1914, author of the Ehime Convention
of the drama Twilight Hall and the building
Crane, 1949; NHK, complex at Hiroshima;
Japanese television, began Double Suicide,
broadcasting, 1953; The a film by Masahiro
Sound of the Mountain, Shinoda, 1969; Shogun
a novel by Yasunari Assassin, a film by Kenji
Kawabata, 1954; Yasunari Misumi, 1981; Metropolitan
Kawabata, Nobel Prize for Teien Art Museum opened,
literature, 1968; The 1983; A Taxing Woman, a
Crucified Lovers, a film by film by Juzo Itami, 1988;
Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954; Heisei period, 1989
Gate of Hell, a film by present; Socialist party
Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1954; headed by a woman,
Throne of Blood, a film by Takako Doi, 1989; The
Akira Kurosawa, 1957; Japan That Can Say No,
Yuichi Inoue: Fish, a a political analysis by
painting, 1959; Josaku Shinaro Ishihara and Sony
Maeda, Mystagogie founder Akio Morita, 1990;
despace, a painting, 1965; Tokyos City Hall,
Tsugouharu Foujita, designed by Tange Kenzo,
painter, 18991968; Kenzo 1990; Eisaku Sata, co-
Tange, b. 1913, architect winner, Nobel Peace Prize,
and town planner, designer 1974; Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel
of Peace Center, Prize for literature, 1994
Hiroshima, 1955; The In Korea, division into two
Waiting Years, by Enchi states, North and South
Fumiko (19051986) who Korea, 1948; Korean War,
continued Japans tradition 19501953; Sun Myung
of outstanding women Moon founded the
89
Unification Church, 1954 Mrquez, Nobel Prize for
In Mexico, David Siqueiros, literature, 1982; in Peru,
muralist, 18971974; Carlos The War at the End of the
Chvez, composer, 1899 World, a novel by Mario
1978; Alfonso Garcia Vargas Llosa, 1984; in
Robles, co-winner Nobel Uruguay, The Short Life,
Peace Prize, 1982; Octavio a novel by Juan Carlos
Paz, Nobel Prize for Onetti, 1950
literature, 1990 Worlds population in August
In Muslim world, Arab 1999 is 6 billion; China
League founded, 1945; in 1.24 billion, India
Egypt, The Beginning and 1 billion, the USA 272
the End, a novel by Naquib million, Indonesia 216
Mahfouz, 1949; in million, Brazil 171
Morocco, The Sacred Night, million, Russia 146 million,
a novel by Tahar Ben Pakistan 138 million,
Jelloun, 1987; OPEC oil Bangladesh 127 million,
crisis, 1974; Anwar el- Japan 126 million, and
Sadat, co-winner, Nobel Nigeria 113 million;
Peace Prize, 1978; Naquib the largest cities, exclusive
Mahfouz, Nobel Prize for of environs, are Seoul
literature, 1988 10.2 million, So Paulo
In New Zealand, Sweetie, 10 million, Bombay 9.9
a film by Jane Campion, million, Jakarta 9.1 million,
1990, and The Piano, 1993 Moscow 8.3 million, Istanbul
In North Vietnam, Le Duc 8.2 million, Mexico City 8.2
Tho, co-winner, Nobel million, Shanghai 8.2
Peace Prize, 1973 million, Tokyo 7.9 million,
In South America, in and New York City 7.3
Argentina, the semiabstract million
painter, Aquiles Badi, 1893 Worlds most livable countries
1976; Hopscotch, a novel by as ranked by the U.N., in
Julio Cortazar, 1963; The descending order were
Kiss of the Spider Woman, Canada, Norway,
a novel by Manuel Puig United States, Japan,
1976; Adolfo Perez Belgium, Sweden, Australia,
Esquivel, Nobel Peace Netherlands, Iceland, and
Prize, 1980; in Brazil, United Kingdom, in 1999
Oscar Niemeyer, the Worlds least livable countries
architect, designer of the as ranked by the U.N., in
city of Brasilia, 19561963; ascending order were Sierra
Brasilia became new Leone, Niger, Ethiopia,
capital, 1960; Pels soccer Burkina Faso, Burundi,
career, 19561974; in Chile, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau,
the poet Pablo Neruda Eritrea, Mali, and Central
(19041973) won Nobel African Republic, in 1999
Prize for literature, 1971; in
Columbia, Gabriel Garcia
90
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To learn:
1.The differences between Late Modernism and Post-Modernism
2.The causes and characteristics of the two postwar economic and political systems of the superpowers
and their allies
3.The major economic and political trends among the nations of Western Europe
4.Domestic developments within the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1970
5.Domestic developments within the United States from 1945 to 1970
6.The origins and course of the cold war
7.The causes and results of the emergence of the Third World states
8.The causes of the changes in international relations since 1970
9.The course and results of Soviet-American relations from 1970 to 1994
10.The major global problems confronting the world in 1994
11.The major intellectual and cultural movements and their leaders since 1945
12.The renewal of feminism, its chief advocates and their messages
13.The discoveries and inventions in science and technology and their impact on Western culture from
1945 to 1991
14.The characteristics of existentialism, its major voices, and representative literature
15.The development of the novel and poetry after World War II
16.The rise of black consciousness, its chief advocates and their messages
17.The trends and changes in the theater after World War II
18.The Post-Modern novel and novelists
19.The characteristics, innovations, and themes of Late Modernist painting, examples of these changes,
and the leading artists
20.The major developments, trends, and sculptors of Late Modernism
21.Late Modernist architecture and architects
22.The general characteristics of Post-Modernism and its most important features
23.The Post-Modernist painters, sculptors, installation artists, video artists, and architects and
representative works
24.The key developments, important innovations, and leading composers in Late Modernist and Post-
Modern music
25.The rise and meaning of mass culture
26.The world in 2003, reflecting its heritage from earlier civilizations: making militant nationalism once
again a force for disruptive change around the world, specifically in the former Soviet Union and the
former Yugoslavia; moving away from an international scene dominated by the superpowers to one
governed by a multipolar arrangement; the conflict of the United States with fundamentalist Islamic
terrorism; continuing Classical influences in the Post-Modernist arts and architecture; updating
nineteenth-century Expressionism and Realism as trends in Post-Modernism; reviving and drastically
refurbishing Hellenistic attitudes in Post-Modernist literature and philosophy and in the multiethnic,
multiracial, multicultural states that seem to be emerging, particularly in the United States and Great
Britain; returning to the roots of Western civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the works of Anselm
Kiefer, perhaps the most influential artist working today; restoring harmonious sounds and simple
techniques to the music of Post-Modernism; and making American mass culture the worlds common
denominator
90
SUGGESTIONS FOR FILMS, VIDEOS, AND CD-ROMS
Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the 50s and 60s. Films for the Humanities, 60 min., color.
Africa to America to Paris: The Migration of Black Writers. Films for the Humanities, 53 min., color.
Alice Walker. Films for the Humanities, 33 min., color.
Allen Ginsberg. Films for the Humanities, 52 min., color.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Bill Moyers. Films for the Humanities, 57 min., color.
Artful Architecture: The Getty Center and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Films for the Humanities, 29 min.,
color.
Cutting and Splicing DNA. Films for the Humanities, 24 min., color.
Czechoslovakia 1968: We Dont Want to Live on Our Knees. Films for the Humanities, 20 min., black and
white.
Doris Lessing: A Life Considered. Films for the Humanities, 54 min., color.
Ellsworth Kelly and Jasper Johns: Modern Masters? Films for the Humanities, 14 min., color.
The End of Empires. Films for the Humanities, 49 min., color.
Eyes on the Prize. PBS.org, 14 hrs. on 7 videos, color. (civil rights movement)
French Intellectuals in the 20th Century. Films for the Humanities, 3 hrs. 28 min. on 4 videos, color.
From Zero: John Cage. Films for the Humanities, 51 min., color.
Gabriel Garca Mrquez: Magical Realism. Films for the Humanities, 60 min., color.
The Germans: Portrait of a New Nation. Films for the Humanities, 58 min., color.
Hiroshima: The Legacy. Films for the Humanities, 30 min., color.
I Am Woman. Films for the Humanities, 2 parts, 29 min. each, color. (feminism)
In Remembrance of Martin. PBS.org, 60 min., color. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Inside the Cold War. Films for the Humanities, CD-ROM.
Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko: Icons of Abstract Expressionism. Films for the Humanities, 23 min., color.
John Adams: Minimalism and Beyond. Films for the Humanities, 52 min., color.
Madrid: The City Today. Films for the Humanities, 27 min., color.
Malcolm X. Films for the Humanities, 15 min., color.
Paris: A Metropolitan Masterpiece. Films for the Humanities, 29 min., color.
Philip Johnson: Looking Back. Films for the Humanities, 13 min., color.
Postmodernism. Films for the Humanities, 29 min., color.
Post-War Music: After the Wake. Films for the Humanities, 52 min., color. (war and music)
Renzo Piano: Piece by Piece. Films for the Humanities, 54 min., color.
Robert Oppenheimer. Films for the Humanities, 14 min., color.
Sculptors at Storm King: Shaping American Art. Films for the Humanities, 47 min., color.
Toni Morrison. Films for the Humanities, 25 min., color.
Vibrations and Pagan Rites. Films for the Humanities, 60 min., color. (music, from Gregorian chant to Ligeti)
91
. The Death of Klinghoffer (199091). Maddalena, Felty, Hammons, Young, Perry, Sylvan, Friedman,
Nadler; Nagano, Orchestra of the Opera de Lyon; Cooke, The London Opera Chorus. Nonesuch
79453-2.
[All recordings are from The John Adams Earbox collection of 10 CDs on Nonesuch, 1999.]
Cage, John. The Seasons (ballet) (1947). Davies, American Composers Orchestra, CRI S-410.
. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (19461948). Fremy. Etcetera ETC-2001; KTC-2001 [CD].
. Song Books III (1970); Empty Words III (1975). For Speaker and Chorus. Cage, Schola Cantorum.
Wergo 60074.
Glass, Philip. Einstein on the Beach. Glass Ensemble. CBS M4-38875; M4K-38875 [CD]; MXT-38875
[cassette].
. Glassworks. Glass Ensemble. CBS FM-37265; MK-37265 [CD]; FMT-37265.
. The Photographer, for Violin, Chorus & Instruments (1982). Kukovsky, Glass Ensemble. CBS FM-
37849; MK-37849 [CD].
. Koyanisqaatsi. Antilles/New Direction 90626-1; 906260-2 [CD]; 90626-4 [cassette].
Stravinsky, Igor. Agon (ballet) (1957). Irving, New York City Ballet Orchestra. Elektra/Nonesuch 79135-1;
79135-2 [CD] 79135-4 [cassette].
. Elegy for J.F.K. (1964). Fischer-Dieskau, Gruber, Adler, Berger. Orfeo S-015821 A.
92
Kennedy, P. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. New York: Random House, 1987. A provocative analysis
that interprets changes in the fortunes of the great powers in terms of the competing demands of
economic growth and military needs.
Keylor, W. R. The Twentieth-Century World: An International History. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996. An excellent overview of developments in world history during this century.
Lucie-Smith, E. Movements in Art Since 1945: Issues and Concepts. Revised and expanded 3rd ed. London:
Thames and Hudson, 1995. The best survey available of developments in art since 1945.
McLaren, A. Twentieth-Century Sexuality: A History. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. A lucid and fun analysis of
changing sexual attitudes and state policies. Particularly good on intersections between racial
nationalism and sexuality, moral panics, the sexual revolution, and homosexuality.
Mller, J-W., ed. Memory and Power in Post-War Europe: Studies in the Presence of the Past. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003. Fascinating essays on the ways in which historical memory
influenced politics after the war.
Rosecrance, R. N. The Rise of the Trading State: Commerce and Conquest in the Modern World. New York: Basic
Books, 1986. Presents the provocative thesis that a new international order is emerging based on
cooperation among trading states.
Schell, J. The Fate of the Earth. New York: Knopf, 1982. An influential study on what civilization is doing to
the natural environment.
Stokes, G., ed. From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe since 1945. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996. Excellent collection of writings and speeches. Gives a good feel for
the character of Soviet bloc communism as well for the origins of the 1989 revolutions.
Tismaneanu, V., ed. The Revolutions of 1989. London: Routledge, 1999. Superb collection of essays
examining the economic, political and social nature of modern revolutions, the legacies of dissent,
the extent of the collapse of Leninist regimes in Europe, and the political and ethical tensions of the
post-communist situation.
Von Laue, T. H. The World Revolution of Westernization: The Twentieth Century in Global Perspective. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1987. A useful survey of world history in the twentieth century; uses
an impressionistic approach.
93
installation art
high tech
glissando
synthesizer
Performance Art
videoart
PERSPECTIVE BACKGROUND
HISTORY
AFRICA
West Africa Cameroon. Became a UN trust territory under France, 1946; gained freedom, 1960. Despotic
rule of Ahmadou Ahidjo to 1982; capital, Yaounde; discovery of oil reserves (1970s); large scale industrial
development failed; success with growing agribusiness and medium-size companies; united with part of
former Southern Cameroons, 1961. After a bloody interval, order restored under Paul Biya in 1984; tilt
toward democratic society; troubled economy.
94
AMERICAS
Latin America Brazil. End of dictatorship of Getulio Vargas, 193045; democracy restored; second Vargas
term, 195154; new capital Brasilia founded, 1960; military regime, 19641985; leading economy of Latin
America. Colombia. La violencia, a period of violence between Liberals and Conservatives, 1948 to 1958.
Liberals and Conservatives rotate power, 19581974; two-party elections, from 1974; new constitution,
1991.
Native North America AIM, the American Indian Movement, was founded in Minneapolis in 1968 by
Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Eddie Benton Banai, and George Mitchell. Russell Means later became
the groups spokesman. At first, AIMs policy was to help Indians in urban ghettos, but in time the goal
expanded to include: economic independence, revival of traditional culture, protection of legal rights, and
Indian control of tribal areas and restoration of illegally-seized lands. Protests in the 1970s led to the
imprisonment of many leaders; the national group disbanded in 1978. Local groups continue.
ASIA
China Peoples Republic of China (PRC), 1949present. Failed Great Leap Forward (massive
communalization of agriculture and local industry), 195860; Great Cultural Revolution, 196676;
economic reform and renewed relations with West, from 1971; suppressed Tiananmen Square student
uprising, 1989. Relations with Taiwan, an ongoing major problem.
India Republic of India, 1947 to present. Worlds largest democracy; politics controlled by Congress Party,
prime ministers drawn from Nehru family to 1990; sporadic clashes with Pakistan and China; two prime
ministers assassinated, Indira Gandhi, 1984, and her son Rajiv Gandhi, 1991.
Japan Showa period, ended 1989. Adopted Western style constitution (1947); signed mutual security treaty
with U.S. (1951); strong economic growth; a leading global economy to 1990; despite slowdown, still a
global economic power.
CULTURE
AFRICA
West Africa Cameroon Throne. This unusual state throne is carved to represent the figure of Chief Mene of
the Bamileke people. Over 2 million Bamileke live in Cameroon today. They live in neighborhoods of
widely scattered family farms and in square houses made of latticework walls topped with conical
thatched roofs. Chiefs houses are decorated with carved door frames, house posts, and thrones. The
Bamileke play a major role in the state economy, as professionals, traders, artisans, and workers.
AMERICAS
Latin America Brazil National Congress Building, Brasilia. Brazilian architecture is renowned as the most
inventive in Latin America. This claim is vibrantly illustrated by the futuristic National congress
buildings at Brasilia built by Oscar Niemeyer (19021998), the designer of the capitals master plan.
Niemeyers design juxtaposed delicate forms (the domed senate on the left) with powerful rectilinear
shapes (the twin towers used by support personnel). Colombia. Las Meninas. This painting is a witty
parody of Velazquezs great court painting of the same name. Instead of the behind-the-scene look at the
Spanish court, as Velazquez painted, Ramiro Arangos version depicts a meeting of coffee pots, jugs, and
95
pears of various size. The parody suggests that the Old Masters have become overly familiar, much as the
objects of everyday life that are taken for granteda common theme in Modernist and Post-Modernist
art.
ASIA
China PRC Painter with Mother as a Young Woman. The painter Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958) emerged in the
late 1970s, when state controls were loosened across the board. Thus, Chinas art changed so that
traditional styles remained but did not predominate. Zhang Xiaogang, who graduated from the Sichuan
Academy in 1982, developed a personal style in which he treats topical issues. He also made color a major
element in his art, especially the fiery hues of Southeast Asia.
India Republic of India The Prancing Horse. Maqbool Fida Husain (b. 1915) is one of Indias leading artists,
working as a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. One of the first artists of his generation to receive
international recognition, starting in the 1950s, he has exhibited all over the world. Over the years, he has
received some of Indias most prestigious artistic awards. Relatively self-taught, except for a year at the
School of Art, he has a highly original style rooted in Indias traditional art yet with influences from the
West and his own history as a designer of childrens toys and movie posters. His paintings often draw on
the tropical colors of the Far East, and his sculptures are highly expressionistic.
Japan Showa period Aerial View, Olympic Stadium. Japanese architects, led by Tange Kenzo (b. 1913),
became a force in world architecture, emphasizing standard features of Japanese style, including simple
lines, diffused lighting, and warm textures. Tange Kenzos style blends Japanese and Western traditions.
He first came to world acclaim with the 1964 Olympic Stadium, noted for its dramatic curved lines and
steel suspension roofing.
DISCUSSION/ESSAY QUESTIONS
1.How did military armaments and modern technology influence the culture of the world between 1945
and 1970? Discuss at least two examples from the arts.
2.Define the terms Late Modernism and Post-Modernism. What are the the key differences between
the two?
3.How have international issues changed between the eras Late Modernism (19451970) and Post-
Modernism (after 1970)? Discuss how these changes have been reflected in the arts and humanities.
4.What is meant by the term cold war? Which nations were involved in this conflict, and what were the
causes of this war?
5.What were the major internal problems confronting the United States from 1945 to 1970, and how
successful was it in solving these problems?
6.What were the reasons for the end of European colonialism after 1945? How did colonialism end in Asia
and Africa?
7.Which forces and issues have led to a new global order since 1970?
8.Why did the cold war end? How did the internal policies of the United States and the Soviet Union
influence the course of events?
9.Late Modernism was an Age of Anxiety. Defend or refute this statement in a short essay, drawing on
literature and art from the period.
10.What role did Simone de Beauvoir play in the feminist movement?
11.How has the rise of modern feminism helped shape literature, thought, and art since 1945?
96
12.Discuss black consciousness, its definition, and the reasons for its birth, using the writings and actions
of its chief supporters to support your discussion.
13.How was Existentialism expressed in the works of Sartre and Camus?
14.Describe the major developments in Late Modernist literature, and give representative examples of
writers working in this field.
15.What is the theater of the absurd? Use the dramas of Beckett to support your discussion.
16.Compare and contrast Post-Modernist with Late Modernist literature. Discuss at least two Late
Modernist and Post-Modernist writers and their works in the essay.
17.How was Abstract Expressionism manifested in painting? Use examples by two of its most important
painters.
18.What is meant by Pop Art? Which artists were associated with this movement?
19.How have painters made social issues a central concern in their art since 1945? What causes have
attracted them? How are these issues manifested in their works? Provide at least two examples.
20.What distinguishes Late Modern from Post-Modern architecture, and who are the leading
representatives of each style?
21.Define Performance Art and discuss the contributions of Anderson and Sherman to this type of art.
22.Define installation art and discuss the contributions of Hamilton to this type of art.
23.Define video art and discuss the contributions of Paik to this type of art.
24.What is meant by mass culture, and how is it a reflection of the influence of the United States in the
expanding world culture?
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1.The greatest threat to the West in the immediate postwar years was the possibility of:
a. the Germans and the Japanese rearming
*b. nuclear war (p. 591)
c. uprisings in the Third World
d. an international economic depression
2.A cause of increased international tensions between 1945 and 1970 was:
a. rising nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe
b. the resurgence of Japan and Germany as military threats
c. the collapse of international financial markets
*d. developments in Third World countries (p. 591)
97
5.True or false? The cold war led to a race to stockpile nuclear weapons by the two superpowers. (T, p.
593)
6.True or false? One outcome of the Vietnam war was that the United States emerged as a divided nation
over the war and its goals. (T, p. 594)
7.The shift in Soviet-American relations that eased international tensions starting about 1970 is known as:
a.laissez-faire
b. bilateral agreements
*c. dtente (p. 596)
d. glasnost
11.True or false? Post-Modernism calls for a more global civilization. (T, p. 600)
13.The revival of the feminist movement after 1945 was first sparked by:
*a. Simone de Beauvoir (p. 601)
b. Betty Friedan
c. Alice Walker
d. Germaine Greer
98
c. Malcolm X
d. Whitney Young
19.How did the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. affect James Baldwin?
a. It revived his faith in the American way of life.
b. It persuaded him that an integrated society was the only solution to Americas racism.
*c. It convinced him that violence was the most effective way to change Americas racial attitudes. (p.
605)
d. It led him to dedicate his life to working among the urban poor.
22.True or false? Dylan Thomass poetry expressed social and political themes. (F, p. 606)
99
23.The poet who led the Beat Generation of the 1950s was:
*a. Allen Ginsberg (p. 606)
b. Richard Wright
c. James Baldwin
d. Robert Frost
25.True or false? Becketts play Waiting for Godot follows French tragedy in its use of lofty language. (F, p.
607)
31.The center of Western culture shifted after 1945 from Paris to:
a. Tokyo
b. London
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*c. New York (p. 609)
d. Rome
32.Which New York museum was a major force in elevating the New York School of artists to dominance
in Western art in the period between 1945 and 1970?
a. Metropolitan Museum of Art
b. Whitney Museum
*c. Museum of Modern Art (p. 609)
d. Guggenheim Museum
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b. David Smith
*c. Andy Warhol (p. 613)
d. Jasper Johns
40.The Late Modernist architecture of Mies van der Rohe is characterized by:
a. buildings treated as unified sculptures
b. a reworking of the Classical orders
c. many ornate decorations
*d. the glass box style (p. 615)
44.The Post-Modernist composers Philip Glass and John Adams are famous for their:
a. serial music
*b. operas (pp. 626-627)
c. use of sonata form
d. atonality
45.The Young British Artists (the YBA) tend to make art that is:
a. deeply serious and modest in execution
*b. attention-grabbing and associated with scandal (p. 619)
c. low-key and conventionally beautiful
d. familiar and attuned to popular culture
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b. a wall hanging
c. an idea for an art piece, but one that is rarely completed
*d. made with a video monitor (p. 620)
50. Which of the following is contributing to turning the world into a global village?
a. American mass culture.
b. The boom in electronically transmitted information.
c. The Internet.
*d. All of the above. (p. 628)
3.Much of the first half of nineteenth-century European history can be described as:
a.a time when the Rococo style dominated European art
*b.an era when the impact of the eighteenth-century revolts was felt in many countries
c.a quiet era of settled governments and stable societies
d.a period of violent reaction to and successful repression of the liberal ideas generated by the French
Revolution
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b.the outgrowth of a sense of optimism in Europe
c.ways to deal with the rise of Modernism
*d.literary and artistic forms that reacted to the Industrial Revolution
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