The Pendulum Swings!: Literary Reflections of a Changing World

Times change. People change. Tastes change. Modest house frocks transform into obscene mini-skirts; gentle four-part harmonies give way to pounding punk expletives; war-mongers and racists are overcome by flower-power hippies. Although these examples may seem superficial, such outward changes in society—swings of the cultural pendulum, if you will—often reflect larger changes in political ideologies, religious beliefs, and philosophical schools. Each generation reacts to the last, and if (as the old adage goes) the apple rarely falls far from the tree, it seems that the societal apple nonetheless strives to distance itself from its roots, to declare itself as DIFFERENT (and often better) than its progenitor. Really: no one—and no culture—wants to be forever known as simply “the child of X.” And so, in an effort to better understand how the world at large often responds to itself, this book surveys a generous selection of avant-garde texts reflecting (and reflecting upon) the changing tastes and ideologies of Western culture, from the Medieval period to the present. The pendulum swings!