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Realist Legacy
Aftermath of World War II provided the opportunity for realism. Authors refused to glorify war.Authors showed that human foibles exists both in wartime and in civilian life.Some authors satirized war and argued that war is laced with insanity.
Authors also focused on balance between personal ambition and responsibility to a group. -
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Realism and Experimentation
Postmodern literature starts after World War II. Novelists inspired by movies, fashion, songs, oral history, and comics.Writers became innovative, self-aware, and reflexive to the point that modernist approaches nolonger sufficed. -
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1950s
Despite the era's prosperity, authors focused on the lonliness, alienation, and conformity of the company man.Most works assumed that Americans share a common lifestyle.Fiction also focused on characters who alienate themselves from society.Another prevalent theme is the inability to succeed, racism in society, and other subtle uneasy subjects. -
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1960s
Turbulent and Creative 1960s:
Civil Rights, Feminism, Antiwar, Minority Activism, and the rise of counterculture occurred during this time. Literature and rhetoric explored this turbulence. New Journalism emerged that used fiction techniques in nonfiction journalism. Metafiction novels began that focuses primarily on the author's technique itself. Southern Literature of the 1960s:
Literature mainly in realism and ethical visions, focusing on themes of family, home, history, land, religion, -
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The 1970s and 1980s: Consolidation
With international conflict ending, individuals focused more on individual interests rather than social issues. Authors experimented less and cared more for realism. Minority literature became popular. -
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The Rise of Multiethnic Fiction in the 1990s:
Black authors wrote works on the 20th century black experience. Asian and Latino Americans wrote books about growing up in a post-World War II America. Native American fiction addressed the loss of traditional life based in nature, struggles with poverty, unemployment, and alcoholism. -
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Contemporary Literature
Literature uses various voices, scenes, and identities. Authors question external structures in politics philosophy, and art. Authors mainly employ popular culture genres, usually in science fiction, spy, and detective stories.