Will Kaufman. American Culture in the 1970s. American Culture in the 20th Century Series. Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Illustrations. 231 pp. $34.50 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7486-2143-9.

Reviewed by Nicole Frisone (University of Minnesota)
Published on H-1960s (September, 2009)
Commissioned by Jessica Kovler (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York)

From Disco Divas to Vietnam Protesters: Rewriting a misunderstood decade

The beat begins softly, pulsating in the background. Try as the listener might, they find themselves unable to refuse when the singers make their demand. Not a question or a suggestion, they simply command their audience: Do the Hustle. American Culture in the 1970s by Will Kaufman, part of a series entitled American Culture in the 20th Century, edited by Martin Halliwell, is one in a growing bibliography of works that seeks to move the 1970s beyond hustle nostalgia (or hatred) and into a substantially more scholarly treatment. In his introduction, Kaufman writes, “Approaching the decade ... will not only offer new and valuable readings of cultural texts and practices, but it will also offer ways in which to challenge the critical and intellectual negativity of [Daniel] Bell and like-minded thinkers who reduce the culture of the 1970s to a collective expression of narcissism, hedonism and solipsism” (p. 5).

Upon learning that American Culture in the 1970s was penned by a British scholar, the information conjured images of new insight into the time that might be overlooked by American scholars who have devoted attention to the decade. The strengths of this work do not lie in new insight or groundbreaking scholarly interpretations of the 1970s. This sentiment is due in no small part to the copious citations of Bruce J. Schulman’s work, particularly The Seventies (2001), with which Kaufman enjoys having a dialog throughout the book. This work is not intended to break new ground; rather, it seems more suited to the role of historiographical survey, promoting questions for further debate and research in lieu of answers.

Divided into thematic chapters, American Culture in the 1970s covers “Fiction and Poetry,” “Television and Drama,” “Film and Visual Culture,” “Popular Music Style,” and “Public Space and Spectacle.” The chapter titles are relatively self-explanatory, except for the last. In it, Kaufman examines such topics as the “meaning” behind the World Trade Center construction. “[Minoru] Yamasaki’s twin towers were not only ‘a symbol of the wealth and power of New York and the United States,’ but also ‘a monumental work of art to be appreciated visually, aesthetically’” (p. 147). Kaufman then ties the concept of “visibility” to political protest and “spectacle,” which took the form of dramatic political staging, such as Native Americans’ seizure of Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

But is American Culture in the 1970s hot stuff? For undergraduates in a survey course, or even interested casual readers, this work is well assembled, clearly written, and enjoyable to read. Due at least in part to its extensive literature survey, American Culture in the 1970s gives an interesting introduction to not only the culture of the 1970s but also the scholarly debates surrounding that culture and decade. In his introduction, Kaufman lays out the “Intellectual Context” of the decade, outlining arguments given by such scholars as Daniel Bell that helped define the way many people currently view the seventies, while also asking a question common among historians: “what is a decade anyway?” In this way, it allows a rather easily digested scholarly overview for undergraduates (or even the unfamiliar graduate student) that they could then begin to think about.

Another aspect that makes the work easy to navigate, and perhaps even easier to dissect for shorter readings, is the subdivisions within chapters. With highlighted areas covering specific events, arguments, or people in depth (Archie Bunker and All in the Family are given a few pages), it is relatively easy to find a passage of interest. An added bonus is the nicely sized bibliography provided in the Edinburgh University edition, complete with films as well as literature and primary and secondary source print materials for further reading. Kaufman and his editor were even considerate enough to provide a nice chronology in the front of the book and a few images in the text, just in case shag carpeting or the leisure suit was an unfamiliar image.

Alternatives to this work include Beth Bailey and David Farber’s America in the ‘70s (2004), Edward Berkowitz’s Something Happened: A Political and Cultural Overview of the Seventies (2006), and, of course, Schulman’s The Seventies. Also, for those looking for something specifically dealing with culture, Andreas Killen’s 1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol and the Birth of Post-Sixties America (2006) is an excellent alternative that deals primarily with culture and topics ranging from Richard Nixon and Vietnam, plane hijacking, and the New York Dolls to Andy Warhol and reality television. Killen’s work does distinctly lack the scholarly overview of Kaufman’s, but Killen has something Kaufman does not: UFOs.

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Citation: Nicole Frisone. Review of Kaufman, Will, American Culture in the 1970s. H-1960s, H-Net Reviews. September, 2009.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=24937

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