Documentary Expression and Thirties America

By William Stott

Book Overview

"A comprehensive inquiry into the attitudes and ambitions that characterized the documentary impulse of the thirties. The subject is a large one, for it embraces (among much else) radical journalism, academic sociology, the esthetics of photography, Government relief programs, radio broadcasting, the literature of social work, the rhetoric of political persuasion, and the effect of all these on the traditional arts of literature, painting, theater and dance. The great merit of Mr. Stott's study lies precisely in its wide-ranging view of this complex terrain."--Hilton Kramer, New York Times Book Review

" Scott] might be called the Aristotle of documentary. No one before him has so comprehensively surveyed the achievement of the 1930s, suggesting what should be admired, what condemned, and why; no one else has so persuasively furnished an aesthetic for judging the form."--Times Literary Supplement

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226775593
• ISBN13: 9780226775593
• Release Date: June 1986
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The most important analysis of '30s American culture

Even after more than 20 years, Stott's book remains the seminal and perhaps most provocative study of the cultural expressions of '30s America. Depression-era America created a crisis of authenticity and relevance for artists, intellectuals and those in the communications industries. The result, says Stott, was a new form of public art, focused on everyday people and based in fact. Readable and persuasive, Stott's book is as fresh and memorable today as it was when it first came out in the mid-'70s. For anyone interested in the '30s, in the Depression era, or in documentary photography, this is a must-read.