{"product_id":"suburbia-as-a-narrative-space-between-utopia-and-dystopia-in-contemporary-american-cinema-von-melanie-smicek","title":"Suburbia as a Narrative Space between Utopia and Dystopia in Contemporary American Cinema","description":"\u003cp\u003eExamination Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 1,0, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: [Suburbia] has become the quintessential physical achievement of the United States; it is perhaps more representative of its culture than big cars, tall buildings, or professional football. Suburbia symbolizes the fullest, most unadulterated embodiment\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof contemporary culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Kenneth Jackson notes in his price-winning chronicle Crabgrass Frontier,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe suburban landscape has become inseparable from American culture within\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe last two centuries. Nowadays living in the suburbs is the norm for most\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmericans, as since the 1990s, more than two third of the population lives in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esuburban districts. The term suburbia does not only relate to the geographical\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econcept that differentiates these dwellings from urban or rural areas, but also\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edescribes a cultural, ideological space incorporating Americans¿ hopes for an\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeconomically safe and prosperous family life. Closely tied to the history and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eculture of the USA, suburbia marks a dynamic ideological space that is\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econstantly influenced and recreated by both the events of everyday life and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eartistic discourse. Thus, the depiction of suburban life functions as a central\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enarrative element in numerous works of American literature, art and film. In\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethis context, fictional texts do not merely represent suburbia, but also have a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edecisive role in the shaping of suburban spaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe treatment of suburbia as a cultural space in American movies is of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003especial interest, as their commercial success and popularity make films\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eimportant cultural texts. As Spigel notes, ¿television and new media redirect\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eour experience of private and public spheres¿ and therefore highly influence\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eour perceptions of the spaces we inhabit. Regarding suburban landscapes, this\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003easpect is particularly interesting because the inexorable rise of the television\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epractically coincided with the postwar suburbanization of the US and had a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esignificant effect on life in general and on the suburban ideal in particular. As a consequence, the TV-set was inseparable from the model of the suburban\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esingle-home in the 1950s. Thus, already in the fifties, when the idealized image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof suburbia evolved, television had a decisive impact on the creation of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esuburbia as a cultural space. In this context, it must be questioned whether the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edepictions of suburbia are simulations of the real spaces, or if it is in fact the other way around, so that suburbia as a cultural concept is a mere simulation of the fictional spaces depicted on screen and thus a copy without an original.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9783656671411\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Libri","offers":[{"title":"Softcover - 9783656671411","offer_id":39423087116381,"sku":"9783656671411","price":42.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0940\/0622\/files\/935b3e8d-a0b3-483b-9ed9-e8f721e781b7.jpg?v=1778133772","url":"https:\/\/shop.autorenwelt.de\/products\/suburbia-as-a-narrative-space-between-utopia-and-dystopia-in-contemporary-american-cinema-von-melanie-smicek","provider":"Autorenwelt Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}