Self-Realization Nation

How Artists of the Creative Counterculture Made a New America
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-0-520-42728-0
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

The story of an unexpected group of performing artists who led one of the most influential artistic movements in contemporary American history.

After World War II, personal fulfillment emerged as a defining American cultural ideal. Self-realization—the quest to become our authentic selves—remains a powerful part of American culture and arts today.

In Self-Realization Nation, John Kapusta provides a lively cultural history of how an overlooked movement of musicians, dancers, and actors championed the ideal of self-realization. These performers, who spanned many backgrounds, identities, genres, and artistic styles, became what he calls the creative counterculture. Artists as varied as Sonny Rollins, John Cage, Anna Halprin, Alice and John Coltrane, and Pauline Oliveros shared an approach to creativity focused on letting go of limiting beliefs and subverting oppressive social norms. Through colorful vignettes, Kapusta reveals how these artists made their art and how their approach spread beyond the performing arts to influence such fields as psychology, education, and wellness. Ultimately, these creative counterculturists came to define a new vision of an America where everyone was free to be themselves, together.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kapusta, John

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Freizeitsoziologie, Konsumsoziologie, Alltagssoziologie, Populärkultur
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Geschichte der Musik
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologie: Sachbuch, Ratgeber
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Populärkultur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

ContentsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: The Creative Counterculture1. The American Tradition of Self-Realization2. Breakdown3. The Art of Letting Go4. To Find Ourselves by Finding Others5. Do Your Own Tai Chi6. You Don't Have to MeltConclusionAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

John Kapusta is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.