The Myths That Made America: An Introduction to American Studies

Heike Paul

Open Access Published by transcript Verlag 2014

The Myths That Made America

An Introduction to American Studies

Heike Paul
Funded by: Knowledge Unlatched - KU Select 2016: Backlist Collection

Volume 1 in the series American Culture Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/transcript.9783839414859

Overview
Contents

About this book

This essential introduction to American studies examines the core foundational myths upon which the nation is based and which still determine discussions of US-American identities today. These myths include the myth of »discovery,« the Pocahontas myth, the myth of the Promised Land, the myth of the Founding Fathers, the melting pot myth, the myth of the West, and the myth of the self-made man.
The chapters provide extended analyses of each of these myths, using examples from popular culture, literature, memorial culture, school books, and every-day life. Including visual material as well as study questions, this book will be of interest to any student of American studies and will foster an understanding of the United States of America as an imagined community by analyzing the foundational role of myths in the process of nation building.

Author / Editor information

Heike Paul is chair of American studies and speaker of the DFG Research Training Group 2726 »The Sentimental in Literature, Culture and Politics« at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.

Reviews

»[Die Analyse ermöglicht] in ihrer Gesamtheit faszinierende Impressionen von Mentalitäten und Idealen, Vorurteilen und Abgrenzungen der US-amerikanischen Gesellschaft des 19. und 20.Jahrhunderts.«
Peter Andreas, Historische Zeitschrift, 301 (2015)

Besprochen in:
Archiv für Sozialgeschichte, 23.07.2015, Horst Dippel
https://lights-camera-history.com, 12,12,2020, Paige Lurie

Supplementary Materials

Leseprobe

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	1
Contents Open Access Download PDF	7
Acknowledgments Open Access Download PDF	9
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	11
Chapter I: Christopher Columbus and the Myth of ‘Discovery’ Open Access Download PDF	43
Chapter II: Pocahontas and the Myth of Transatlantic Love Open Access Download PDF	89
Chapter III: Pilgrims and Puritans and the Myth of the Promised Land Open Access Download PDF	137
Chapter IV: American Independence and the Myth of the Founding Fathers Open Access Download PDF	197
Chapter V: E Pluribus Unum? The Myth of the Melting Pot Open Access Download PDF	257
Chapter VI: Agrarianism, Expansionism, and the Myth of the American West Open Access Download PDF	311
Chapter VII: Expressive Individualism and the Myth of the Self-Made Man Open Access Download PDF	367
By Way of Conclusion Twenty-Five More Study Questions Open Access Download PDF	421
Index Open Access Download PDF	427

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Edition: 1. Aufl.
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 450
Keywords: Culture; Myth; Literature; History; American Studies; Cultural Studies; American History; Introduction

eBook

Published: August 27, 2014
ISBN: 9783839414859