文化背景知识

1.Definition of the 1960sThe 1960s term refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends in the west, particularly United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and West Germany. Social and political upheaval was not limited to these countries, but included such nations as Japan, Mexico, Yugoslavia and others. The 1960s have become synonymous with all the new, exciting, radical, and subversive (破坏性的) events and trends of the period, which continued to develop in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond.2.Counterculture of the 1960s n. 反主流文化；反传统文化In the second half of the decade, young people began to rebel against the conservative norms of the time, as well as disassociate themselves from mainstream liberalism, in particular the high levels of materialism which was so common during the era. This created a “counterculture” that sparked a social revolution throughout much of the western world. It began in the United States as a reaction against the conservatism and social conformity of the 1950s, and the US government’s extensive military intervention in Vietnam.The youth involved in the popular social aspects of the movement became known as hippies. These groups created a movement toward liberation in society, including the sexual revolution, questioning authority and government, and demanding more freedoms and rights for women, homosexuals, and minorities.The movement was also marked by drug use and psychedelic (引起幻觉的) music. 3. Anti-war movementThe conflict in Vietnam would eventually lead to a commitment of over half a million American troops, resulted in over 55,000 American deaths and produced a large-scale antiwar movement in the United States. As late as the end of 1965 few Americans protested the American involvement in Vietnam but as the war dragged on and the body count in Vietnam continued to increase so did civil unrest. Students became a powerful and disruptive force and university campuses sparked a national debate over the war, as the movement’s ideals spread beyond college campuses, doubts about the war also began to appear within the administration itself. One kind of protest was called a “sit-in.”4.The Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement, a key element of the larger Counterculture movement, involved the fight for equal rights guaranteed under the US Constitution to all American citizens, rights which many southern states illegally denied the descendents of slaves of African origin following emancipation. Stimulated by this movement, but growing beyond it, were large numbers of student-age youth beginning with the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964. The FSM actually came out of a struggle for the right to collect money on campus for civil rights workers in Mississippi. The university took the position that since some of the civil rights workers were getting arrested, they were engaged inillegal activity, and it was against university rules to allow the collection of money for illegal activities. This shocked and enraged students on campus who were furious that their liberal university would so strongly side with the racists in the South -- opposing voter registration drives and protecting the killers of children. The students took over a campus building, and the police were called in to arrest the hundreds and hundreds of students inside. Newspaper photos and television film clips showed the extreme brutality of the police, smashing heads with clubs, throwing people down concrete stairs, pulling women by their hair -- all because of a sit in to support civil rights, something the USA was supposed to stand for.4.HippiesThe hippie subculture is a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The hippies inherited the countercultural values of the Beat Generation, created their own communities, listened to psychedelic (引起幻觉的) rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and used drugs such as cannabis (大麻) and LSD to explore alternative states of consciousness.5. Popular cultureThe rise of the counterculture movement, particularly among the youth, created a huge market for rock, soul, pop, reggae and blues music produced by drug-culture, influenced bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix Experience etc, also for radical music in the folk tradition pioneered by Bob Dylan in the United States, and in England, Donovan was helping to create folk rock.The counterculture movement had a significant effect on cinema. Movies began to break social taboos such as sex and violence causing both controversy and fascination. They turned increasingly dramatic, unbalanced, and hectic (发热的)as the cultural revolution was starting. This was the beginning of the New Hollywood era that dominated the next decade in theatres and revolutionized the movie industry. Films of this time also focused on the changes happening in the world. Dennis Hop per’s Easy Rider (1969) focused on the drug culture of the time. Movies also became more sexually explicit as the counterculture progressed.6.The Western Europe in the 1960sMass socialist or Communist movement in most European countries (particularly France and Italy), with which the student-based new left was able to forge a connection. The most spectacular manifestation of this was the May student revolt of 1968 in Paris that linked up with a general strike of ten million workers called by the trade unions; and for a few days seemed capable of overthrowing the government of Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle went off to visit. French troops in Germany to check on their loyalty. Major concessions were won for trade union rights, higher minimum wages and better working conditions. University students protested in their hundreds of thousands in London, Paris, Berlin and Rome with the huge crowds that protested against the Vietnam War.。