Happy days and wonder years: the fifties and the sixties in contemporary cultural politics

Abstract

In the 21st century, why do we keep talking about the fifties and sixties? The stark contrast between these decades, their concurrence with the childhood and youth of the baby boomers, and the emergence of television and rock and roll help to explain their symbolic power. While the fifties are depicted as an era of American global dominance, economic prosperity, and the pervasive conformity, the sixties are remembered as a time of energetic idealism, political protest and social upheaval. In Happy Days and Wonder Years, Daniel Marcus reveals how interpretations of these decades have figured in the cultural politics of the United States since 1970. From Ronald Regan's image as a fifties Cold Warrior to Bill Clinton's fandom for Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy, politicians have invoked the fifties and the sixties to connect to their public. Marcus shows how films, television, music and memoirs have responded to the political nostalgia of today and why our entertainment remains immersed in reruns, revivals and references to earlier times. This book offers a new understanding of how politics and popular culture have influenced our notions of the past, and how events from long ago continue to shape our understanding of the present day.

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