THE ROARING TWENTIES

HELPANGLAISSPECIALS THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER www.helpanglais.fr December 2012 THE ROARING TWENTIES The period of the 20s was a period of great contradiction : one the one hand, a decade of economic prosperity (just after WWI) : Ford model T, $5 work day, progress (electricity, telephone)- first transatlantic flight (Charles Lindbergh), social opportunities , emancipation of women , inventions (In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming found a powerful antibiotic, penicillin) , interest for arts : paintings, jazz music, movies, the Harlem Renaissance, literature ….. On the other hand, it was also a period of intolerance and isolation – “red scare”, Ku Klux Klan, restricted immigration, prohibition. For all these reasons, I have chosen to arouse your curiosity about this period. click here to watch a document

NEWS Date 1920-1929 A period of prosperity economy The “Roaring Twenties” developed the well-being of American middle class. In the 1920's business was an obsession, and new technologies helped factories to produce always more and faster. Economic expansion created booming profits that raised the standard of living of a lot of people, together with the development of credit. Thanks to this new prosperity, many families could afford to buy equipment such as refrigerators, washing machines, and radios . A lot of them were also able to buy the first cheap, mass-produced Ford Model T car ( 15 million cars sold by 1927!) women After WWI, women gained the right to be recognized like men, thanks to the role they had played in the industry during the war. In 1920, they got the right to vote. Some improvements made their life easier (take-away shops, canned food, ready-to-wear clothes …) as well as increased salaries gave them more time to “enjoy life”. A new kind of woman was born : she was called “flapper” : she claimed her right to smoke in public, wear shorter dresses, cut her hair, go out alone …. In fact, be independent . It put an end -(but temporarily)- to decades of “Puritanism”. click here to watch the flappers

ARTS Date 1920-1929 LITERATURE IN THE JAZZ AGE Writers Some of the greatest American authors of the 20s were Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and John Dos Passos. In their books, they both illustrate what was called “the lost generation” – the generation of the roaring twenties Francis Scott Fitzgerald was really the embodiment of the “jazz age” -term that he created- and of the “lost generation”. He led a hectic life, was extremely attractive, had a very romantic and turbulent love story with his wife Zelda, was addicted to alcohol, and died at the age of 40 .He is now considered – not only by me!- one of the best authors of the XXth century . One Fitzgerald's books : The Great Gatsby (in French : “Gatsby le Magnifique”) is a great book turned into a movie : a real “must”! Documentation : A movie by Francis Ford Coppola, starring : Robert Redford, Mia Farrow “the Great Gatsby” –Ed. Penguin Also by Francis Scott Fitzgerald: “tender is the night” , “This side of paradise”,“The diamond as big as the Ritz”and lots of other short stories (Editions Penguin) watch an excerpt of "The Great gatsby" here music A famous painter of this period : Dennis Hopper Jazz became popular like it had not been before The Charleston, a dance with origins in South Carolina and African American styles, became very popular. One of the most famous jazz musicians of those days was Louis Armstrong also nicknamed “Satchmo” (1901 - 1971) trumpeter and singer Other great artists of that time also included Duke Ellington ,Benny Goodman , Billie Holliday…Composers were also inspired by the jazz age, such as George Gershwin. Two of his best known orchestral works are "Rhapsody in Blue," and "An American in Paris".

ARTS Date 1920-1929 ART DECO Architecture The Chrysler Building- NEW YORK The City Hall - Buffalo Art Deco was expressed in design, interior decoration, and architecture in the 1920s and '30s in Europe and the U.S. The name comesfrom the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et IndustrielsModernes in Paris in 1925. The intention was to create an non traditional and elegant style that symbolized prosperity sophistication. With geometric shapes, expensive materials, it was influenced by various styles : Bauhaus in architecture, mythology, Cubist paintings…It affected all types of decorative arts : design, furniture, jewels … enjoy the pictures as much as I do …

ARTS Date 1920-1929 THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE Black culture Following World War I, around 500,000 African Americans in search of better employment opportunities moved to the northern part of the United States. With them, they brought their culture and in New York, the Harlem Renaissance movement started The « Harlem Renaissance » was a cultural movement born in Harlem in the 20s. It was a period when Black literature and arts flourished. African-American intellectuals and artists wanted to express their own identity . It led to the recognition of a Black culture in the US and spread far beyond the limits of the “ghetto”. Harlem wasthenconsidered the “capital of Black culture”. African-American writers participated in the movement and started to impose a Black literature in the US . Some of the most famous were : Langston Hughes (poet and novelist) : “the ways of white folfs” – Dorothy West (“the living is easy”), Zora Neale Hurston, and richard Wright (“Black boy”) painters Among the most famous painters of the Harlem Renaissance were Maxfield Parrish, C. Coles Phillips, Aaron Douglas and Palmer Hayden . See a few paintings on the left

That’ all for today ! • (hopeyoulikedit …)

THE ROARING TWENTIES