| Everything Was Better in America: Print Culture in the Great Depression Contributor(s): Welky, David (Author) |
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ISBN: 0252032993 ISBN-13: 9780252032998 Publisher: University of Illinois Press OUR PRICE: $108.90 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2008 Annotation: As a counterpart to research on the 1930s that has focused on liberal and radical writers calling for social revolution, David Welky offers this eloquent study of how mainstream print culture shaped and disseminated a message affirming conservative middle-class values and assuring its readers that holding to these values would get them through hard times. Through analysis of the era's most popular newspaper stories, magazines, and books, Welky examines how voices both outside and within the media debated the purposes of literature and the meaning of cultural literacy in a mass democracy. He presents lively discussions of such topics as the newspaper treatment of the Lindbergh kidnapping, issues of race in coverage of the 1936 Olympic games, domestic dynamics and gender politics in cartoons and magazines, Superman's evolution from a radical outsider to a spokesman for the people, and the popular consumption of such novels as the Ellery Queen mysteries, "Gone with the Wind," and "The Good Earth," Through these close readings, Welky uncovers the subtle relationship between the messages that mainstream media strategically crafted and those that their target audience wished to hear. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Media Studies - History | United States - 20th Century - Social Science | Sociology - General |
| Dewey: 071.309 |
| LCCN: 2007044086 |
| Series: History of Communication (Hardcover) |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.2" W x 9.1" (1.25 lbs) 280 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1930's - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: As a counterpart to research on the 1930s that has focused on liberal and radical writers calling for social revolution, David Welky offers this eloquent study of how mainstream print culture shaped and disseminated a message affirming conservative middle-class values and assuring its readers that holding to these values would get them through hard times. Through analysis of the era's most popular newspaper stories, magazines, and books, Welky examines how voices both outside and within the media debated the purposes of literature and the meaning of cultural literacy in a mass democracy. He presents lively discussions of such topics as the newspaper treatment of the Lindbergh kidnapping, issues of race in coverage of the 1936 Olympic games, domestic dynamics and gender politics in cartoons and magazines, Superman's evolution from a radical outsider to a spokesman for the people, and the popular consumption of such novels as the Ellery Queen mysteries, Gone with the Wind, and The Good Earth. Through these close readings, Welky uncovers the subtle relationship between the messages that mainstream media strategically crafted and those that their target audience wished to hear |
Contributor Bio(s): Welky, David: - David Welky was born and raised in St. Louis, the consummate Midwestern river town. He received a BA in history from Truman State University in Missouri and a MA and PhD, both in history, from Purdue University. He has written widely on American culture and society in the interwar era and is the author of Everything Was Better in America: Print Culture in the Great Depression and The Moguls and the Dictators: Hollywood and the Coming of World War II. He is currently associate professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas, where he lives with his wife and two children. |