Visions of Belonging: Family Stories, Popular Culture, and Postwar Democracy, 1940-1960 (review)

Visions of Belonging argues that from the late 1930s through World War II and into the early Cold War era, popular family stories produced in every medium articulated what it meant to be an "ordinary" American. Smith demonstrates how a pluralistic vision of the late 1930s that began to include white ethnics and, to a certain extent, people of color among the "ordinary" expanded to some extent during the war years to reinforce the need for unity to fight the war. After the war, the potential for further inclusion came to a halt, in part because of the increasing chill of the Cold War that re-marginalized workers, radicals, and people of color. The postwar theme of assimilation into the mainstream solidified the color line, as white ethnics increasingly became unmarked ordinary Americans while African Americans remained on the outside.

Smith uses major works in American radio, theater, film and television to trace the complex and subtle transformations in ideas about those who belong, those who do not, and why. She examines several major works of art that appeared between 1940 and 1960 and traces how they transformed over time, from the stage to the screen to television, in an ongoing construction and reflection of typical American families. She uses family stories to capture the meaning of American citizenship, reflecting the centrality of family to the concept of national identity. Each chapter is filled with insights gleaned from such popular works as Marty (1953), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943), I Remember Mama (1944), Strange Fruit (1944), Gentleman's Agreement (1949), Death of a Salesman (1949), and A Raisin in the Sun (1959). Smith examines how creators and audiences endeavored to come to grips with the powerful push toward assimilation, the primacy of the nuclear family, and a panethnic white identity.

The book makes a powerful and significant contribution to our understanding of the popular arts during the middle decades of the twentieth century in the context of shifting political and historical circumstances. Challenging notions of ongoing progress, the book demonstrates how the 1930s expanded the American mainstream, only to have the boundaries constrict in the wake of World War II and the advent of the Cold War. Smith's subtle examination of shifting ideas about race in the postwar era reveals dramatic changes in attitudes and perceptions. No other book examines the cultural aspect of changing ideas about race and ethnicity with such insight and depth.

Visions of Belonging is a monumental work of cultural history. Through her clear, detailed, and meticulous examination of major works of popular art, Smith has challenged the common wisdom about ethnic and racial assimilation and made a powerful contribution to our understanding of the profound changes that took place in American society from the Depression through the Cold War.