United States Studies: Culture, Politics, Media – serie

This collection presents essays by leading European and American scholars addressing new research approaches to US Studies and their transatlantic reverberations. Beginning with philosophical discussions of the serious challenges facing civilization from the perspective of philosophical pragmatism, through a critique of the pervasive and enduring media discourse of terrorism, to reflections on the position of scholarship focusing on the United States in difficult times – our times – this volume considers in depth what is called or miscalled «American Studies». The collection’s specific topics range from a fresh look at philosophical pragmatism, through various representations of danger and fear in visual culture, to texts recording new attitudes to the study of the United States. An essay on children confronting the New World, papers on transnational or postnational American studies, and on presidential leadership as therapy signal that the time has come to revise the canon of the study of the United States.

This volume looks at a key component of recent US foreign relations, namely, its emphasis on «hearts and minds» as part of its cultural management of the global Other. The authors collected here analyze to what extent we can frame the intent and consequences of this term as a coherent policy, discussing how to think about foreign policy strategies that involve the management of cultural relations.«Including fascinating first-hand and deeply-researched accounts of the workings of various US institutions (many of them ‘cultural’), this volume is a must for an understanding of the power the US projects worldwide.» Professor Laleh Khalili, SOAS University of London«This fascinating collection reveals the nuance and complexity behind a seemingly banal phrase.» Professor David Schmid, State University of New York at Buffalo