Many of the sources I used in my dissertation were understandably specialist — the previous scholarship of the social problem film, academic articles fleshing out particulars of the historical context, genre theory and criticism. And, too, there were the general theory, econ, and sociology books from Bourdieu, Habermas, Galbraith and C. Wright Mills that I drew upon heavily and that I’ve already mentioned on this blog. A number, however, are more particular books that nonetheless serve as good introductions for the reader interested in classical Hollywood, the political economy of managerial capitalism, or the sociology of reception. Here are seven of them:
Pre-Code Hollywood by Thomas Doherty
This book is a rare find: an analysis of a period in Hollywood (1930-1934) that is both written for a general readership and academically rigorous. Doherty is primarily a film historian, weaving industrial history with pithy readings of the films of the period. And his discussion of the battles over morality and censorship in the movies is excellent.
Modern Manors by Sanford Jacoby
A study of the changes in "welfare capitalism" in the 20th century. At first an attempt to prevent unionization, welfare capitalism developed in the postward years to serve as an annex to the welfare state. Jacoby analyzes how and why this transformation occurred and in the process elucidates the contemporary labor market and the changes in our political economy itself over the last half-century.
A Feeling for Books by Janice Radway
To me, this is a model of excellent literary scholarship. Radway traces the rise of middlebrow sensibility in literary reception, focusing on the particular case of the book-of-the month club. She argues the clubs were the first attempt by marketers to sell cultural acumen as a reproducible commodity - which makes me wonder if some enterprising soul won’t try to revive some version of it again soon.
Sure Seaters by Barbara Wilinsky
An industrial history of the art cinema in the postwar years, focusing on exhibition practices: which theatres converted to art films and the strategies they used to attract viewers. Given that much of our current exhibition divide between art and mainstream theatres stem from this period, it’s a lively, readable and invaluable history.
Film/Genre by Rick Altman
An academic consideration of what makes a film genre, Altman’s book is livened by an omnivorous consideration of Hollywood’s product as was actually released, not simply the films canonized since. It’s a testament to its writing that it made me want to watch the biographical films from Warner Brothers in the 1930s or more backstage musicals. Along with Steve Neale’s Genre and Hollywood, this is the smartest exploration of the idea of genre I’ve seen.
Selling Culture by Richard Ohmann
Another cultural-social history, this time of mass market magazines. Ohmann, drawing from previous historians like Theodore Petersen, argues that the rise of the mass market magazine embodied the cultural horizons of an emerging professional-managerial class in the U.S.
The City by Robert E. Park et al.
Since part of my diss considered the shift that the 1940s brought the discipline of sociology, I went back for a belated look at the Chicago School work of the interwar years. This study of the city surprised me in its methodological clarity and the contemporary-seeming nature of its analysis. The concepts in the book seem hardly to have aged, even as the cities themselves have changed.
No comments have been added to this post yet.