Caroline F. Levander - Böcker

This landmark collection brings together a range of exciting new comparative work in the burgeoning field of hemispheric studies. Scholars working in the fields of Latin American studies, Asian American studies, American studies, American literature, African Diaspora studies, and comparative literature address the urgent question of how scholars might reframe disciplinary boundaries within the broad area of what is generally called American studies. The essays take as their starting points such questions as: What happens to American literary, political, historical, and cultural studies if we recognize the interdependency of nation-state developments throughout all the Americas? What happens if we recognize the nation as historically evolving and contingent rather than already formed? Finally, what happens if the "fixed" borders of a nation are recognized not only as historically produced political constructs but also as component parts of a deeper, more multilayered series of national and indigenous histories? With essays that examine stamps, cartoons, novels, film, art, music, travel documents, and governmental publications, Hemispheric American Studies seeks to excavate the complex cultural history of texts and discourses across the ever-changing and stratified geopolitical and cultural fields that collectively comprise the American hemisphere. This collection promises to chart new directions in American literary and cultural studies.

A Companion to American Literary Studies addresses the most provocative questions, subjects, and issues animating the field. Essays provide readers with the knowledge and conceptual tools for understanding American literary studies as it is practiced today, and chart new directions for the future of the subject. Offers up-to-date accounts of major new critical approaches to American literary studiesPresents state-of-the-art essays on a full range of topics central to the fieldEssays explore critical and institutional genealogies of the field, increasingly diverse conceptions of American literary study, and unprecedented material changes such as the digital revolutionA unique anthology in the field, and an essential resource for libraries, faculty, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates

Where is American Literature? offers a spirited and compelling argument for rethinking the way we view American literature in relation to the nation while powerfully demonstrating why it continues to matter in a global age. A refreshing and accessible investigation into the various locations - linguistic, geographical, virtual, ideological - where American writing is produced and consumedTakes a highly original approach by viewing US literature spatially rather than chronologically or thematically, retuning our understanding of the subjectThe book offers a vital intervention in current debates over the impact of digital technologies on the production and reception of literature, ensuring that the field remains lively and dynamicInvites readers to reconsider the subject by questioning current perspectives on, and approaches to, US literature, offering a range of fresh perspectives on familiar texts and topics