From: MKlo <MKlo@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Generation X and Flowerchildren parents..
Tana,
You might check out Sydney Lewis' book, "A Totally Alien Life
Form--Teenagers." Lewis was Studs Terkel's assistant for many years. Her
interviews include several with children of 60's parents.
Mike Klonsky
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[2]
From: epm2@lehigh.edu (TED MORGAN)
Subject: Re: Generation X and Flowerchildren parents..
Re. Tana's thesis & book idea:
I would throw a kind of cautionary work into this project, namely that
one needs to consider both the "boomers/flower children" and "Gen X"
labels (and, to a degree even the process of considering "generations"
as distinct) as largely the products of a commodifying media culture.
In both cases, "characteristics of a generation" are pulled from some
behavioral/attitudinal, etc. data and then hyped as "the" traits of a
generation. If one is doing a thesis in literature, postmodern or
cultural studies, or even media studies, that's fine, because one
presumably takes a critical look at this phenomenon in itself. BUt if
you just take at face value the conventional wisdom (or even media
generalizations) about these two generations (or generational
subgroups), then I think you're not going to understand a whole lot.
Rather crucially, I think, one needs to ask (a) why media
etc. gravitate towards these nice generalizations (as do, for rather
similar reasons, advertisers, etc.), and (b) what were the
political/economic/ & social conditions in the culture that seemed to
spawn some of these attitude/behaviors in some people in this age
group (as well, of course --though often overlooked-- ion others of
other age groups living through the same conditions).
Just my two bits,
Ted Morgan
================================
Department of Political Science
Maginnes Hall #9
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA 18015
epm2@lehigh.edu
phone: (610) 758-3345
fax: (610) 758-6554
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[3]
From: Autonobook@aol.com
Subject: Re: Re: Book recommendations
Try "File Under Popular" by Chris Cutler