Ars Americana Ars Politica
Ars Americana, Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture is a 2010 critical study by Peter Swirski.
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| Author | Peter Swirski |
|---|---|
| Subject | American Literature, Culture, History and Politics |
| Publisher | McGill-Queen's University Press |
Publication date | 2010 |
| Pages | 221 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7735-3766-8 |
| OCLC | 648097211 |
The book examines contemporary American political literature and culture in the context of American politics and history. It examines not only the partisan credentials of what it argues is a new brand of art engagé but also the nobrow style in which it conducts its political business.
The principal examples of American literature that Swirski discusses in detail are: Irving Wallace’s The Man (1964), Richard Condon’s Death of a Politician (1978), P.J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores (1991; 2003), Warren Beatty’s script and film Bulworth (1998), and Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation (2002; 2004). All are selected because political partisanship is a part of their artistic agenda. As Swirski puts it in the introduction, the political art discussed in Ars Americana “should come equipped with shock-absorbers”.
Nominated for a dozen major awards Howard Zinn touted it as “fascinating and original”.[1]
External links
- Ars Americana, Ars Politica: American Democracy and Its Deficits – Plenary Address at the Center for Global Humanities, United States (2012)