1960s
1970s
A01=John Kapusta
artistic expression
authenticity
Author_John Kapusta
Carlos Santana
Category=ATY
Category=JBCC1
Category=NHK
Category=VS
Chungliang Al Huang
cultural studies
cultural transformation
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_self-help
eq_society-politics
Jerry Garcia
me generation
personal growth
postwar culture
Ravi Shankar
self-help
self-identity
the Beatles
Product details
- ISBN 9780520427280
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 19 May 2026
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
The story of an unexpected group of performing artists who led one of the most influential artistic movements in contemporary American history.
After World War II, personal fulfillment emerged as a defining American cultural ideal. Self-realization—the quest to become our authentic selves—remains a powerful part of American culture and arts today.
In Self-Realization Nation, John Kapusta provides a lively cultural history of how an overlooked movement of musicians, dancers, and actors championed the ideal of self-realization. These performers, who spanned many backgrounds, identities, genres, and artistic styles, became what he calls the creative counterculture. Artists as varied as Sonny Rollins, John Cage, Anna Halprin, Alice and John Coltrane, and Pauline Oliveros shared an approach to creativity focused on letting go of limiting beliefs and subverting oppressive social norms. Through colorful vignettes, Kapusta reveals how these artists made their art and how their approach spread beyond the performing arts to influence such fields as psychology, education, and wellness. Ultimately, these creative counterculturists came to define a new vision of an America where everyone was free to be themselves, together.
After World War II, personal fulfillment emerged as a defining American cultural ideal. Self-realization—the quest to become our authentic selves—remains a powerful part of American culture and arts today.
In Self-Realization Nation, John Kapusta provides a lively cultural history of how an overlooked movement of musicians, dancers, and actors championed the ideal of self-realization. These performers, who spanned many backgrounds, identities, genres, and artistic styles, became what he calls the creative counterculture. Artists as varied as Sonny Rollins, John Cage, Anna Halprin, Alice and John Coltrane, and Pauline Oliveros shared an approach to creativity focused on letting go of limiting beliefs and subverting oppressive social norms. Through colorful vignettes, Kapusta reveals how these artists made their art and how their approach spread beyond the performing arts to influence such fields as psychology, education, and wellness. Ultimately, these creative counterculturists came to define a new vision of an America where everyone was free to be themselves, together.
John Kapusta is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.
