Self-Realization Nation : How Artists of the Creative Counterculture Made a New America

Kapusta, John

University of California Press（2026/05発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 304 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780520427280

Full Description

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.

Contents

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction: The Creative Counterculture

1. The American Tradition of Self-Realization

2. Breakdown

3. The Art of Letting Go

4. To Find Ourselves by Finding Others

5. Do Your Own Tai Chi

6. You Don't Have to Melt

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index