American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture

369 Pages·2011·2.26 MB·English

by  Neil Campbell

Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean
A M E R I C A N
CULTURAL STUDIES
AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN CULTURE
THIRD EDITION
American Cultural Studies
Praise for previous editions:
‘Something of a godsend . . . as a teaching resource this book is second
to none . . . achieves levels of multiplicity rarely, if ever, reached by
others.’
Borderlines: Studies in American Culture
This third edition of American CulturalStudieshas been updated through -
out to take into account the developments of the last six years, providing
an introduction to the central themes in modern American culture and
exploring how these themes can be interpreted.
Chapters in this book discuss many different aspects of American
cultural life such as religion, gender and sexuality, and regionalism.
Updates and revisions include:
(cid:129) discussion of Barack Obama’s rise to power and the end of the ‘Bush
Years’
(cid:129) consideration of ‘Hemispheric American Studies’ and the increasing
debates about globalisation and the international role of the USA
(cid:129) up-to-date case studies, such as The Wire and Nurse Jackie
(cid:129) more on suburbia, the Mexican border and the Twilight phe nomena
(cid:129) updated further reading lists
(cid:129) accompanying website.
American Cultural Studies is a core text and an accessible introduction to
the interdisciplinary study of American culture.
Neil Campbell is Professor in American Studies at the University of
Derby, UK. His recent publications include The Rhizomatic West:
Representing the American West in a Transnational, Global, Media Age(2008),
The Cultures of the American New West(2000) and The Radiant Hour: Versions
of Youth in American Culture (2000).
Alasdair Kean is a lecturer in American Studies at the University of
Derby, UK.

American Cultural Studies
An introduction to American culture
Third Edition
Neil Campbell and
Alasdair Kean
First edition published 1997
by Routledge
This edition published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1997, 2006, 2012 Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean
The right of Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean to be identified as
author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Campbell, Neil, 1957–
American cultural studies : an introduction to American culture/
Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean. — 3rd ed.
p. cm.
“Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada”—T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States—Civilization—20th century—Study and teaching.
2. United States—Civilization—21st century—Study and teaching.
I. Kean, Alasdair, 1947- II. Title.
E169.1.C235 2012
306.0973—dc22
2011015164
ISBN: 978-0-415-59870-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-59871-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-80199-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino and Helvetica Neue
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon
Contents
List of plates ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
An exceptional place or what is America? 2
What is American Studies? 5
Using the book 9
Critical approaches 10
A culture of many voices 14
Cultural politics/cultural studies 15
Power, position, hegemony 16
Dialogism 18
Transnational and Hemispheric American Studies 19
The continuous ‘play’ of culture, history and power 20
Note 21
References and further reading 21
1 New beginnings: American culture and identity 25
Reading Columbus 27
The American dream of identity: The Great Gatsby 28
Maybe this is Heaven: Field of Dreams(1989) 31
‘The surface of an identity’: the past as presidential
discourse 33
Counter-cultural dreams 36
Multiplicity, difference and re-vision 39
New interrogations: Gloria Anzaldúa, Barry Lopez and
Trinh T. Minh-ha 40
Conclusion: digging deep – Lone Star(1996) 45
References and further reading 47
Follow-up work 49
vi Contents
2 Ethnicity and immigration: between many worlds 50
Ethnic America: ‘A vast ingathering’ 50
Native Americans: assimilation and resistance 53
Reinscribing the tribe: writing ethnicity 55
Immigration and Americanisation 59
The crucible of difference 64
Immigrant stories: Jewish Americans 65
The future belongs to the mixture: melting pot, mosaic or hybrid? 72
The new Americans? 75
Conclusion: no border here 77
References and further reading 78
Follow-up work 82
3 African Americans: ‘I don’t sing other people’s
voices’ 84
Out of slavery 84
Recovering black history 86
Imaginative cultural retrieval 92
Links in the chain: music and speech 96
New black voices 102
Boyz N the Hood(1991) 105
Conclusion: a story to pass on 105
References and further reading 109
Follow-up work 112
4 In God we trust?: Religion in American life 114
Church and state 115
The eyes of all people shall be upon us 118
Changing patterns in American religious life 120
Contemporary evangelicalism 123
Religion and politics 130
African American religion 132
Conclusion 138
References and further reading 138
Follow-up work 141
5 Approaches to regionalism: the West and the South 142
Case study 1: revising the American West 143
Imagined Wests 144
Land and the West 146
Contents vii
Masculinity and the land 150
Women and the West 153
A diverse West: Willa Cather and beyond 156
Conclusion: the contested landscapes of the contemporary West 158
Case study 2: the South – a world apart? 161
South and North 162
A diverse South 165
Writing the South 168
Documentary reportage 170
Southern music 174
Film and the South 177
Conclusion 180
References and further reading 181
Follow-up work 187
6 The American city: ‘The old knot of contrariety’ 188
Can we read the city? 188
Competing versions of the city 190
Theoretical city: the desire for control and order 192
The undivulged city: Poe’s ‘The Man of the Crowd’ 196
The ‘persuasive light’: commerce and the city 197
The spaces of the city: architecture, art and ambivalence 199
Collage city 204
Postmodern city: Las Vegas 209
Suburbia: lives placed side by side 210
Conclusion, or no conclusion possible? 212
References and further reading 213
Follow-up work 215
7 Gender and sexuality: ‘To break the old circuits’ 216
Nineteenth-century roots: cultural politics 217
Nineteenth-century roots: literature and the ‘First Wave’
of feminism 221
Gender and the 1950s’ ‘Second Wave’ 225
Out of the 1950s: Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar(1963) 229
Sexuality and gender 233
Roseanne: the world blown apart 238
Conclusion: Peyton’s Place, Nurse Jackie 241
References and further reading 242
Follow-up work 244
viii Contents
8 Representing youth: outside the sunken nursery 245
Youth/history/representation 246
Boundaries and youth spaces 249
Housing the self 251
A model youth text? The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 254
The dream of Eden 256
The spaces of self-creation 259
At the edge: the dark mood 263
Generation X/Generation Y 267
Conclusion: Twilight 270
References and further reading 272
Follow-up work 274
9 The spread of freedom 275
American power: rise and decline 277
Exceptionalism and the mission of freedom 279
Cultural superiority 282
America as a model 285
Pre-emption and unilateralism 287
Empire 291
Image 294
Anti-Americanism 295
War at home: security and liberty 297
Conclusion 301
References and further reading 302
Follow-up work 305
10 The transmission of American culture 307
Changing patterns of American power 308
Coming to terms with Americanisation 312
Assessing Americanisation 319
Case study 1: the media 321
Case study 2: the Internet 325
Case study 3: music 328
Conclusion 331
Note 331
References and further reading 331
Follow-up work 336
Index 337
Plates
1 Native American Histories: Newspaper Rock,
Canyonlands National Park, Utah 56
2 Barack Obama giving a speech on the Change
Campaign, 2008 113
3 John Gast, American Progress, 1872 149
4 George Caleb Bingham, Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers
through the Cumberland Gap, 1851–52 156
5 Arthur Rothstein, Farmer and his Sons Walking by Shack
in a Dust Storm, 1936 172
6 A Nashville skyline 195
7 Manhattan streets from the Empire State Building 201
8 Edward Hopper, Office at Night, 1940 202
9 Robert Rauschenberg, Estate, 1963 207
10 Joseph Schershel, Aerial View of rows of modest
houses (1958) 211
11 US President Bush ready to board S3 Viking Jet in
San Diego, 2003 295