Swinging London
From Free net encyclopedia
- For a wider coverage of London, visit the London Portal.
Swinging London is a catchall term applied to a variety of dynamic cultural trends in the United Kingdom (centred in London, as the dominant city) in the 1960s. Much of the phenomenon was youth oriented and emphasized the new and modern, and amounted to a cultural revolution in the United Kingdom. It was a period of optimism as well as hedonism, as was the sixties in much of the Western world.
It notably includes the famous popular music of the period, when the United Kingdom dominated the international industry, but also fashion, photography, film, and the arts (pop art, etc.). Its most prominent symbols were perhaps the Beatles, the literary character James Bond created by novelist Ian Fleming, and Mod fashions such as the miniskirt.
This period in British history has been lovingly parodied in the nostalgic/anachronistic Austin Powers films starring Canadian comedian and TV personality Mike Myers.
One of the catalysts was the recovery of the British economy and consumerism from the post World War II period of austerity and rationing which lasted through much of the 1950s.
The 1966 film Blow-Up, by Michelangelo Antonioni, depicts the period.
See also
Template:UK-hist-stubfi:Svengaava Lontoo fr:Swinging London it:Swinging London