Warren Susman as a cultural historian

Abstract

Even though it is a limited space, at this essay I try to understand Warren Susman as a cultural historian via the form of a review article. First, I will show the whole life of Susman focusing on the period of graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the period of professor at Rutgers University. And then, I will investigate on his view on history and world.BR As a result, we can see that he could be a real heir to the Progressive tradition and radicalism through the Madison period. And the professors and the graduate students at the University of Wisconsin had huge affect on his career as a historian thereafter. At Rutgers University he really enjoyed teaching and emphasized on his stance as an educator. He also gradually discover the people or common man. As a left intellectual he tried to understand the mass culture in which they participated.BR At his sole book, Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century, Susman could manage to collect his articles that had been scattered at the unknown journals or anthologies. At the book, he delved into some major themes. One of them was ‘the culture of abundance’ which was the essential values of the mass consumer society in America. As a reviewer, I will check the historical meaning of his book. Finally, as a whole, I will try to evaluate Susman as a cultural historian.