Inquiry: Morris Dickstein: DANCING IN THE DARK: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

During the Great Depression in America, an expressive populist culture grew out of the Modernism of the 1920s. There were novels and plays about the horrors of dire poverty, but there were also dream-like fantasies of a world far way from the bread lines. The Gay Divorcee was enjoyed side by side with The Grapes of Wrath. It was a time of Woody Guthrie and Cole Porter, Art Deco and Regionalism. How can we make sense of what appears to be such a paradoxical culture? Tonight on Inquiry, we talk with MORRIS DICKSTEIN, Distinguished Professor of English and Theatre at CUNY Graduate Center. Professor Dickstein discusses his new book, one of the most original and enjoyable histories of The Depression:  DANCING IN THE DARK: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION. If you are a fan of the American Songbook, the great writers of the Depression or the films of the 1930s, don’t miss this show!