| The Culture of Spontaneity: Improvisation and the Arts in Postwar America Contributor(s): Belgrad, Daniel (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0226041905 ISBN-13: 9780226041902 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $34.65 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 1999 Annotation: "The Culture of Spontaneity" is the first comprehensive history of the postwar avant-garde, integrating such diverse moments in American culture as abstract expressionism, bebop jazz, gestalt therapy, Black Mountain College, Jungian psychology, beat poetry, experimental dance, Zen Buddhism, Alfred North Whitehead's cosmology, and the antinuclear movement. Daniel Belgrad shows how a startling variety of artistic movements actually had one unifying theme: spontaneous improvisation. "A compelling narrative, putting living flesh on shorthand intuitions that connect North Beach to Black Mountain College, Fenollosa to Pollock, Jackson Lears's "No Place of Grace" to Todd Gitlin's "The Sixties,""--Joel Smith, "Boston Review" |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Reference - Social Science | Popular Culture - Art | American - General |
| Dewey: 700.103 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 6" W x 8.97" (1.03 lbs) 351 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Modern - Chronological Period - 1940's - Chronological Period - 1950's - Chronological Period - 1960's |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Culture of Spontaneity is the first comprehensive history of the postwar avant-garde, integrating such diverse moments in American culture as abstract expressionism, bebop jazz, gestalt therapy, Black Mountain College, Jungian psychology, beat poetry, experimental dance, Zen Buddhism, Alfred North Whitehead's cosmology, and the antinuclear movement. Daniel Belgrad shows how a startling variety of artistic movements actually had one unifying theme: spontaneous improvisation. A compelling narrative, putting living flesh on shorthand intuitions that connect North Beach to Black Mountain College, Fenollosa to Pollock, Jackson Lears's No Place of Grace to Todd Gitlin's The Sixties.--Joel Smith, Boston Review An invaluable introduction to postwar modernism across the arts.--Thomas Augst, Boston Book Review Belgrad's extensive probing of the artists and movements with their profound sociological roots is timely as well as comprehensive....A major contribution for serious scholars.--Choice |
Contributor Bio(s): Belgrad, Daniel: - Daniel Belgrad is associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida and author of The Culture of Spontaneity, also published by the University of Chicago Press. |