3.3: Contemporary Literature (1955-present)
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Unit 3: Contemporary Literature (1955-present)
Unit 3: Contemporary Literature (1955-present) After World War II ended, the international community spent many years rebuilding and coping with the aftermath of the destruction of cities, towns, roads, national economies, and social structures. One response to the upheaval caused by the War was for ethnic communities or colonized nations to seek political or cultural autonomy, as discussed in the chapter on Postcolonialism. In addition, the mid- to late-twentieth century period encompassed significant cultural and political developments worldwide:- The formation of the Soviet bloc nations and the partitioning of Germany set the stage for the political tensions that would culminate in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Russia that lasted from the 1950s through the 1980s and established a constant threat of nuclear war;
- The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 led to a continuing series of Arab-Israeli conflicts;
- The partitioning of Korea and Viet Nam led to civil wars in those nations that came to involve the United States and European nations in the effort to stop the spread of Communism;
- China, under Mao Tse Tung, and then continuing under the control of the Communist party, began to emerge as a world power;
- Japan recovered from the devastating effects of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and became an important trade partner for U.S. and European countries;
- The social and political upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s resulted in the emergence of the recreational drug culture, the Civil Rights movement in the United States, the international Feminist movement, and the rise of the revolutionary political left.