- Approaches to American Cultural Studies (2016, Paperback) in DJV, FB2, PDF
9780415720854 English 0415720850 Approaches to American Cultural Studies provides an accessible yet comprehensive overview of the diverse range of subjects encompassed within American Studies, familiarising students with the history and shape of American Studies as an academic subject as well as its key theories, methods, and concepts. Written and edited by an international team of authors based primarily in Europe, the book is divided into four thematically-organised sections. The first part delineates the evolution of American Studies over the course of the twentieth century, the second elaborates on how American Studies as a field is positioned within the wider humanities, and the third inspects and deconstructs popular tropes such as myths of the West, the self-made man, Manifest Destiny, and representations of the President of the United States. The fourth part introduces theories of society such as structuralism and deconstruction, queer and transgender theories, border and hemispheric studies, and critical race theory that are particularly influential within American Studies. This book is supplemented by a companion website offering further material for study (www.routledge.com/cw/dallmann). Specifically designed for use on courses across Europe, it is a clear and engaging introductory text for students of American culture., Approaches to American Cultural Studiesis a comprehensive survey of the research fields within American Studies.Written by three experienced teachers of American Cultural Studies based at Humboldt Univeristy in Berlin, the book discusses the history of American Studies as academic discipline as well as main ideas, research questions, and problems in American Studies. Part one delineates the history of (North) American Studies as academic discipline in and outside the US, describing the emergence of American Studies, its relation to English Studies, its inter-disciplinary shape, early research interests, and emerging criticism within the field. Part two locates American Studies within the field of Cultural Studies. It will elaborate on the history and understanding of German "Kulturwissenschaft" versus Anglophone "Cultural Studies," also discussing American Studies' affinity to and difference from Film and Media Studies and traditional Literary Studies. Part three discusses foundational concepts and myths within hegemonial American self-understanding and their ideological foundation of excluding and rendering the existing social Other invisible. The chapters in this section will discuss the myth of the West as Virgin Land, the emergence of American anti-urbanism, the myth of unlimited social ascent, and the significance of religion and family in American culture. And part four focuses on the major modern theoretical "schools" ((Post)Marxism; (Post)Structuralism; Psychoanalysis, (Post)Modernism) and gives examples of how a variety of current theoretical approaches within American Studies discuss the significance of different categories of difference (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, etc.) as constructs which are central to naturalize understandings of the hegemonic Self and the Other. Including a glossary as well as a list of recommended readings this is the perfect resources for all introductory students of American Cultural Studies.
9780415720854 English 0415720850 Approaches to American Cultural Studies provides an accessible yet comprehensive overview of the diverse range of subjects encompassed within American Studies, familiarising students with the history and shape of American Studies as an academic subject as well as its key theories, methods, and concepts. Written and edited by an international team of authors based primarily in Europe, the book is divided into four thematically-organised sections. The first part delineates the evolution of American Studies over the course of the twentieth century, the second elaborates on how American Studies as a field is positioned within the wider humanities, and the third inspects and deconstructs popular tropes such as myths of the West, the self-made man, Manifest Destiny, and representations of the President of the United States. The fourth part introduces theories of society such as structuralism and deconstruction, queer and transgender theories, border and hemispheric studies, and critical race theory that are particularly influential within American Studies. This book is supplemented by a companion website offering further material for study (www.routledge.com/cw/dallmann). Specifically designed for use on courses across Europe, it is a clear and engaging introductory text for students of American culture., Approaches to American Cultural Studiesis a comprehensive survey of the research fields within American Studies.Written by three experienced teachers of American Cultural Studies based at Humboldt Univeristy in Berlin, the book discusses the history of American Studies as academic discipline as well as main ideas, research questions, and problems in American Studies. Part one delineates the history of (North) American Studies as academic discipline in and outside the US, describing the emergence of American Studies, its relation to English Studies, its inter-disciplinary shape, early research interests, and emerging criticism within the field. Part two locates American Studies within the field of Cultural Studies. It will elaborate on the history and understanding of German "Kulturwissenschaft" versus Anglophone "Cultural Studies," also discussing American Studies' affinity to and difference from Film and Media Studies and traditional Literary Studies. Part three discusses foundational concepts and myths within hegemonial American self-understanding and their ideological foundation of excluding and rendering the existing social Other invisible. The chapters in this section will discuss the myth of the West as Virgin Land, the emergence of American anti-urbanism, the myth of unlimited social ascent, and the significance of religion and family in American culture. And part four focuses on the major modern theoretical "schools" ((Post)Marxism; (Post)Structuralism; Psychoanalysis, (Post)Modernism) and gives examples of how a variety of current theoretical approaches within American Studies discuss the significance of different categories of difference (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, etc.) as constructs which are central to naturalize understandings of the hegemonic Self and the Other. Including a glossary as well as a list of recommended readings this is the perfect resources for all introductory students of American Cultural Studies.