LEADER 05235nam 2200685 a 450 001 9910777679303321 005 20230207224655.0 010 $a1-322-35313-1 010 $a0-231-50926-X 024 7 $a10.7312/smit12170 035 $a(CKB)1000000000455978 035 $a(EBL)909343 035 $a(OCoLC)818857055 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000267965 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11204679 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000267965 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10213562 035 $a(PQKB)11320166 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC909343 035 $a(DE-B1597)459339 035 $a(OCoLC)979967605 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780231509268 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL909343 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10183598 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL666595 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000455978 100 $a20031114d2004 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||#|||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aVisions of belonging$b[electronic resource] $efamily stories, popular culture, and postwar democracy, 1940-1960 /$fJudith E. Smith 210 $aNew York $cColumbia University Press$dc2004 215 $a1 online resource (481 p.) 225 1 $aPopular cultures, everyday lives 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-231-12171-7 311 $a0-231-12170-9 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [329]-424) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tAcknowledgments --$t1. ORDINARY FAMILIES, POPULAR CULTURE, AND POPULAR DEMOCRACY, 1935-1945 --$tLOOKING BACK STORIES --$t2. MAKING THE WORKING-CLASS FAMILY ORDINARY: A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN --$t3. HOME FRONT HARMONY AND REMEMBERING MAMA --$tTRADING PLACES STORIES --$t4. LOVING ACROSS PREWAR RACIAL AND SEXUAL BOUNDARIES --$t5. SEEING THROUGH JEWISHNESS --$t6. HOLLYWOOD MAKES RACE (IN)VISIBLE --$tEVERYMAN STORIES --$t7. COMPETING POSTWAR REPRESENTATIONS OF UNIVERSALISM --$t8. MARITAL REALISM AND EVERYMAN LOVE STORIES --$t9. RERACIALIZING THE ORDINARY AMERICAN FAMILY: RAISIN IN THE SUN --$tNotes --$tIndex 330 $aVisions of Belonging explores how beloved and still-remembered family stories-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I Remember Mama, Gentleman's Agreement, Death of a Salesman, Marty, and A Raisin in the Sun-entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950's. These stories helped define widely shared conceptions of who counted as representative Americans and who could be recognized as belonging. The book listens in as white and black authors and directors, readers and viewers reveal divergent, emotionally textured, and politically charged social visions. Their diverse perspectives provide a point of entry into an extraordinary time when the possibilities for social transformation seemed boundless. But changes were also fiercely contested, especially as the war's culture of unity receded in the resurgence of cold war anticommunism, and demands for racial equality were met with intensifying white resistance. Judith E. Smith traces the cultural trajectory of these family stories, as they circulated widely in bestselling paperbacks, hit movies, and popular drama on stage, radio, and television. Visions of Belonging provides unusually close access to a vibrant conversation among white and black Americans about the boundaries between public life and family matters and the meanings of race and ethnicity. Would the new appearance of white working class ethnic characters expand Americans' understanding of democracy? Would these stories challenge the color line? How could these stories simultaneously show that black families belonged to the larger "family" of the nation while also representing the forms of danger and discriminations that excluded them from full citizenship? In the 1940's, war-driven challenges to racial and ethnic borderlines encouraged hesitant trespass against older notions of "normal." But by the end of the 1950's, the cold war cultural atmosphere discouraged probing of racial and social inequality and ultimately turned family stories into a comforting retreat from politics. The book crosses disciplinary boundaries, suggesting a novel method for cultural history by probing the social history of literary, dramatic, and cinematic texts. Smith's innovative use of archival research sets authorial intent next to audience reception to show how both contribute to shaping the contested meanings of American belonging. 410 0$aPopular cultures, everyday lives. 606 $aPopular culture$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century 606 $aArts, American$y20th century 606 $aFamilies$zUnited States$xHistory$y20th century 607 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$y1918-1945 607 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$y1945-1970 615 0$aPopular culture$xHistory 615 0$aArts, American 615 0$aFamilies$xHistory 676 $a306.85/0973/0904 700 $aSmith$b Judith E.$f1948-$01505741 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910777679303321 996 $aVisions of belonging$93817635 997 $aUNINA