The US History: Cultural Activities in the Progressive Era and the New Deal Era - Essay Example

US History: Cultural Activities in the Progressive Era and the New Deal Era. The Progressive Era and the New Deal Era in American history are known for their paradoxical links and digressions among social, political, economic and cultural aspects. While the Progressive Era was apparently brimming with hope infested by the Modernist endeavor, the New Deal Era had to deal with the harsh realities of the stock exchange crash with which it started and the catastrophic impact of the conflicts in the international front. The socio-political ambience of both the periods were also linked their cultural means of production and distribution. “…Americans of the twenties sought to adapt to the rise of a new mass culture, mass production, urban world” (738), while “…the New Deal Era radically redefined the nation’s political agenda, the role of the federal government, and the nature of the presidency” (777). The popularity of print media was at its peak in the 1920s, as the circulation graph of magazines like Saturday Evening Post and Readers Digest verify. Though there is an accusation that the lofty elements of classic literature were lost in the periodical articles in these magazines meant for light reading, they have definitely played a vital part in shaping the American sensibility. Though radio and movies were in vogue in the twenties, they reached perfection in the production and reach only in the thirties. The impact of the magazines had decreased to an extent in the New Deal Era, thanks to the innovative means of entertainment and information that audio-visual mass media offered. While the twenties’ moviemakers struggled with ‘vitaphone’ and ‘movietone’ for sound in movies and were content with black and white films, the thirties are known for phenomenal inventions in incorporating sound and color to the movies. However, it is observed that “the rise of corporate economic power in Hollywood had a subtle but distinct effect on film content, encouraging escapist, predictable formula films most likely to turn a profit, and discouraging riskier work and critical explorations of the darker corners of American society.” (773) The most significant aspect of the Progressive Era is the emergence of the African American community and a celebration of their existence through the Harlem Renaissance. The cultural flowering at Harlem owes it allegiance to the pride and self-confidence the Afr0-Americans gained in the Post-World War I America. Jazz music, which originated form the Afro-American musical tradition, is representative of the breaking free from the white traditional art forms. There were a lot of promising personalities of in the music, literature and painting of Harlem Renaissance, but the path breaking developments in the political sphere by eminent leaders like W.E.B.Dubois and Marcus Garvey were what led to a compelling change in the discriminatory social milieu. However, the great Depression put and end to the Harlem Renaissance, leaving its legacy to future Afro-American leaders and artists. Despite the overwhelming impact of the Depression caused a premature end to the Harlem renaissance, it is quite accurate to observe that it “nevertheless stands as a monument to African-American cultural creativity even under difficult circumstances” (729). Many writers like Sinclair Lewis and Earnest Hemingway were disheartened by the first World War and its impact, and were alienated from the spirit of the times that glorified patriotism and nationalism. Sinclair expressed his vies smugly in his Mainstreet (1920 and Babbit (1922), and Hemingway, in his The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929) made use of his acidic remarks on the twenties to give expression to his intense personal experiences as a participant in the war. However, the thirties brought in a renewed vigor in writers like Hemingway, who reacted strongly against fascism. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) affirms Hemingway’s stance to support the Spanish loyalists during the Civil War, which represents the unique response fascism has brought in for Americans. The American writers who associated with the Popular Front had to play a historical role in responding to the world order where power relations had gone wrong. According to Hemingway, “The Spanish Civil War offered something which you could believe in wholly and completely, and in which you felt and absolute brotherhood with the others who were engaged in it” (771). The celebrity culture of the twenties was noted for the sense of hope and jubilance that the American people experienced in the age of Modernism. There were beauty pageants, sports competitions and adventure projects that caught the eyes and ears of the public. All these were linked to the progress in arts, science and technology and socio-economic spheres. However, the reasons leading to celebrity worship may be linked to the new demands in fitting to a role suitable for the age. In a society that was changing at breakneck speed, idols and heroes were created, as the yardsticks of success and fame. The most important idol of this era was the young pilot Charles Lindbergh, who flew in a small biplane across the Atlantic all by himself. The thirties witnessed an escapism, as the socio-economic sphere reflected a grim age, though the scientific advancements did not cease to exist. The media that romanticized celebrity culture did convey the message that “a person’s horizons need not be limited by his or her immediate surroundings” (726). However, the mass media of the thirties became avenues of escape, by its focus on comedies and soap operas that tried to distract the public from their own miserable existence. There had been an outburst in architecture, painting, music and other art forms during the Progressive Era. The skyscrapers of America were raised during this period. They represented the future of America, and the functional aspect of these buildings affirmed its economic growth as well. Artists like the muralist Thomas Hart Benton and the painter Edward Hopper made use of the Modernist atmosphere that prevailed in America for their experimental works. Charles Sheeler painted and photographed giant factories, while Joseph Stella focused on capturing the moods of excitement in New York. In the world of music, composers like Aaron Copland and Frederick Converses experimented both with the folk and modernist elements. The Jazz culture also helped produce a few musicians like George Gershwin. The thirties saw Copeland in the new cultural atmosphere with Billy The Kid (1938) in which aspects of the cultural nationalism of the thirties can be observed. Jazz maintained it effect on the American cultural public, though the Harlem Renaissance fizzled out. Regional literature and painting gained significance in the New Deal Era. Moreover, the corporate world of this era did introduce a novel concept called streamlining, which involved in designs of commercial products rounded edges and smoothly flowing curves. It is observed that “Streamlined products also helped America rebuild its tarnished image and present itself as the benevolent shaper of a better future” (776). The futuristic vision of a utopian American nation was represented in the 1939 New York’s World Fair under the theme ‘The World of Tomorrow’. However , the panic stricken response of the radio presentation of H G Wells’ science fiction work War of the Worlds bear witness to another aspect of the American sensibility of the times: “The hopelessness was mixed with muted fear. The nation had survived the worst of the depression, but danger loomed beyond the seas” (776). Read More