Age of Anxiety - (Politics, Literature, & Film) by Anthony M Wachs & Jon D Schaff (Paperback)

About the Book

Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st Century Film and Literature applies historical and contemporary political and rhetorical theory to current popular culture to discuss the problem of the displaced autonomous self and the quest for a meaningful life.

Book Synopsis

Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st Century Film and Literature applies historical and contemporary political and rhetorical theory to current popular culture to discuss the problem of the displaced autonomous self and the quest for a meaningful life.

Review Quotes

The worst one can say about a book of ideas is that it elicits neither strong agreement nor passionate dissent. Fortunately, Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21 -Century Film and Literature by Professors Anthony M. Wachs and Jon D. Schaff has the distinction of having stimulated both in this reader. . . I considered it an engaging and provocative text, which offers both an impassioned defense of (and encouragement towards) traditional Western values as well as [a] dismissal of other possibilities for cultural evolution and personal growth. As such, the book should prove a potent and illuminating guide to living for some. . . . Reading it was a soothing reminder of simpler, more socially stable and civilized times as well as an anxiety provoking challenge to some of my own convictions. In this way, it was a challenging read; but I appreciated that. Sometimes we need a shakeup to our convictions to test them, to see if they're still 'worth fighting for' or not - and this book got me willing to speak up for and defend some of what I hold to be morally important.

"Connecting the dots between history, pop culture, philosophy, and the social sciences, Age of Anxiety offers important insights into the crisis of meaning we face in our affluent, individualistic, and technology-driven modern world."

"Written with clarity and urgency, Age of Anxiety reads the messages in a bottle written by a culture stranded on an island of rootless individualism. Through a thoughtful reading of popular media texts, Wachs and Schaff embark on a rescue operation to recover what it means to be human in a society that has been thrown off course by the waves of modern ideology."

About the Author

Anthony M. Wachs is assistant professor of rhetoric, communication ethics & the Catholic intellectual tradition at Duquesne University.

Jon D. Schaff is professor of political science at Northern State University.