Consuming Desires: Mass Production, Advertising, and Consumer Society in Modern Europe

Catalog description

This course examines the cultural and social consequences of the transition from artisanal production (things made by hand) to the mass production of consumer goods in Europe and the United States since 1750. The transition to mass production revolutionized the retail goods sector, making possible the emergence of modern consumer societies. We will focus on literary responses to emerging consumer societies, and examine: the introduction of colonial products into the European markets; the emergence of new commercially-oriented leisure time activities; how consumption patterns became part of political and literary debates; the "Americanization" of European culture; and Cold War debates about consumption.