Life and Times

Contemporary Era by Renato Motta

Characteristics of Contemporary Literature was the writers wrote writing expressing individuality, censorship and repression of ideas were planted, unpleasant subject matter (no blinders), not escapist, no pretending there is a hierarchy or order, chaos (lack of order as the cultural norm), technical variety, endurance and humor/ the ideal of writing, bases largely on male themes (natural world or war, self for self in business), recognition of absurdity, the “Illness story”, “Beat” poetry – sexual misfits, illicit writers, shock culture, literature complex current “melting the cultural ice of Cold War and conformity.

As civil war erupted in Vietnam in 1960 between the Communist-supported Ho Chi Min of North Vietnam and the French-supported government of Ngo Dinh Diem, President Kennedy feared if Vietnam fell to Communism then many other small countries would also fall to Communism, creating a "Domino Effect." France, unwilling to support a war effort in Vietnam, turned responsibility for Vietnam over to the United States. If the United States failed to assume responsibility, the Diem Government would not be able to withstand the assault from the North.

The Vietnam War (1957-1975) was one of the longest and most controversial wars in America's history. Many people in the United States opposed the war and voiced their opinions by marching in rallies; others showed their discontent in poetry and song.

Also in the contemporary era was Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was a famous leader of the American civil rights movement, a political activist, and a Baptist minister. In 1964, King became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment for different races). On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter. In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a United States holiday. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He was known as a great public speaker.