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1960: When Art and Literature Confronted the Memory of World War II and Remade the Modern
In 1960, when World War II might seem to have been receding into history, a number of artists and writers instead turned back to it. They chose to confront the unprecedented horror and mass killing of the war, searching for new creative and political possibilities after the conservatism of the 1950s in the long shadow of genocide.
Al Filreis recasts 1960 as a turning point to offer a groundbreaking account of postwar culture. He examines an eclectic group of artistic, literary, and intellectual figures who strove to create a new language to reckon with the trauma of World War II and to imagine a new world. Filreis reflects on the belatedness of this response to the war and the Holocaust and shows how key works linked the legacies of fascism and antisemitism with American racism. In grappling with the memory of the war, he demonstrates, artists reclaimed the radical elements of modernism and brought forth original ideas about testimony to traumatic history.
1960 interweaves the lives and works of figures across high and popular culture―including Chinua Achebe, Hannah Arendt, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Paul Celan, John Coltrane, Frantz Fanon, Roberto Rossellini, Muriel Rukeyser, Rod Serling, and Louis Zukofsky―and considers art forms spanning poetry, fiction, memoir, film, painting, sculpture, teleplays, musical theater, and jazz. A deeply interdisciplinary cultural, literary, and intellectual history, this book also offers fresh perspective on the beginning of the 1960s.
Al Filreis recasts 1960 as a turning point to offer a groundbreaking account of postwar culture. He examines an eclectic group of artistic, literary, and intellectual figures who strove to create a new language to reckon with the trauma of World War II and to imagine a new world. Filreis reflects on the belatedness of this response to the war and the Holocaust and shows how key works linked the legacies of fascism and antisemitism with American racism. In grappling with the memory of the war, he demonstrates, artists reclaimed the radical elements of modernism and brought forth original ideas about testimony to traumatic history.
1960 interweaves the lives and works of figures across high and popular culture―including Chinua Achebe, Hannah Arendt, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Paul Celan, John Coltrane, Frantz Fanon, Roberto Rossellini, Muriel Rukeyser, Rod Serling, and Louis Zukofsky―and considers art forms spanning poetry, fiction, memoir, film, painting, sculpture, teleplays, musical theater, and jazz. A deeply interdisciplinary cultural, literary, and intellectual history, this book also offers fresh perspective on the beginning of the 1960s.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published October 26, 2021
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July 14, 2026
1960 is an exceptional work that reexamines a defining moment in cultural and intellectual history with remarkable depth and clarity.
Al Filreis presents a compelling argument for why 1960 marked a significant turning point in the artistic response to World War II.
The book brings together literature, music, film, philosophy, and visual art into a rich and cohesive narrative.
Its interdisciplinary approach offers readers a broader understanding of how creative expression responded to historical trauma.
Filreis demonstrates outstanding scholarship while maintaining an engaging and accessible writing style.
The analysis of influential writers and artists is thoughtful, balanced, and deeply insightful.
Each chapter contributes fresh perspectives that encourage meaningful reflection.
The connections drawn between memory, modernism, racism, and the legacy of fascism are both persuasive and illuminating.
The historical context is presented with precision and intellectual rigor.
The book challenges readers to reconsider familiar narratives through a wider cultural lens.
Its arguments are carefully developed and supported by impressive research.
This is an invaluable resource for readers interested in history, literature, cultural studies, and modern thought.
1960 succeeds as both a scholarly achievement and an engaging exploration of postwar creativity.
It is a significant contribution that enriches our understanding of one of the twentieth century's most influential cultural moments.
Al Filreis has produced a remarkable work that deserves lasting recognition.
Al Filreis presents a compelling argument for why 1960 marked a significant turning point in the artistic response to World War II.
The book brings together literature, music, film, philosophy, and visual art into a rich and cohesive narrative.
Its interdisciplinary approach offers readers a broader understanding of how creative expression responded to historical trauma.
Filreis demonstrates outstanding scholarship while maintaining an engaging and accessible writing style.
The analysis of influential writers and artists is thoughtful, balanced, and deeply insightful.
Each chapter contributes fresh perspectives that encourage meaningful reflection.
The connections drawn between memory, modernism, racism, and the legacy of fascism are both persuasive and illuminating.
The historical context is presented with precision and intellectual rigor.
The book challenges readers to reconsider familiar narratives through a wider cultural lens.
Its arguments are carefully developed and supported by impressive research.
This is an invaluable resource for readers interested in history, literature, cultural studies, and modern thought.
1960 succeeds as both a scholarly achievement and an engaging exploration of postwar creativity.
It is a significant contribution that enriches our understanding of one of the twentieth century's most influential cultural moments.
Al Filreis has produced a remarkable work that deserves lasting recognition.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review