Final answer:
The Normative/Descriptive Period (1946-1970) in American history reflects a time of cultural transformation and the emergence of new societal norms, with abstract expressionism in art transitioning to postmodernist literature reflecting media-saturated American life.
Step-by-step explanation:
Normative/Descriptive Period (1946-1970) and American Culture
The Normative/Descriptive Period, spanning from 1946 to 1970, is a pivotal era in American history marked by significant cultural and societal changes. This period saw the transition from wartime prosperity to post-war adjustments and the beginning of the Cold War. The 1940s were characterized by a national mood of optimism and consumerism, while the counterculture of the 1960s catalyzed a deepening desire to challenge existing norms and push for civil rights. Sociologists like Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann introduced concepts such as social constructs in their influential work 'The Social Construction of Reality'.
Selected works from these decades reflect the evolution of American culture. For instance, the expansion of abstract expressionism, as represented by Pollock, evolved into the pop art of Andy Warhol and eventually the digital media culture that dominates today. Similarly, in literature, the modernist works gave way to postmodernist experiments, as seen in Barthleme's 'The School' and DeLillo's 'White Noise', that reflect the fragmented, media-saturated experience of American life post-1945.