It is a microcosm of American popular culture in all its ersatz glory, the anti-Disneyland, a realm of tawdry spectacle and mindless distraction catering to the basic instincts of hoi polloi. It is, of course, Coney Island, whose history and culture are chronicled in “Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008,” opening Friday, Nov. 20, at the Brooklyn Museum.

Coney Island has ridden a roller coaster of highs and lows since Civil War times, when it was already a leisure destination.