Udo J. Hebel Book order

The volume presents the first comprehensive documentation of New England Forefathers’ Day orations. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War, they were the cornerstone of anniversary performances dedicated to the commemoration of the arrival of the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth in 1620 and the ensuing foundation of the first Puritan colony in New England. The oratory of the celebrations of December 22, contributed significantly to the construction of a national U. S. American myth of origin and a national U. S. American historical and political tradition. The annotated edition of thirty-one Forefathers’ Day addresses from 1770 through 1865 collects representative examples from different historical contexts and from different regions of the United States. The selection of anniversary addresses is accompanied by introductions to the respective celebrations, orators, and contexts, and by reprints of historical paintings and popular prints of early colonial New England history.

Transnational approaches and theories have reshaped the interdisciplinary trajectory of American Studies since the turn of the millennium. The further extension of perspectives on the United States and North America to prominently include Atlantic Studies, Hemispheric Studies, and Pacific Studies has complicated long-standing notions of 'American Studies' and problematized concepts such as nation, identity, and American exceptionalism. The collection gathers thirty original contributions to transnational American Studies from the fields of cultural studies, literature, history, politics, and media studies. Individual essays reassess the global role of the U. S. and its perceptions from within and without, discuss how transnational and comparative explorations emphasize multidirectional processes of cultural exchange and transfer, and show how paradigms of migration and cultural mobility have taken definitions and practices of American Studies beyond traditional geographical and disciplinary limits.

The pictorial turn in the humanities and social sciences has foregrounded the political power of images and the extent to which historical, political, social, and cultural processes and practices are shaped visually. Political iconographies are taken to interpret norms of actions, support ideological formations, and enhance moral concepts. Visual rhetorics are understood as active players in the construction and contestation of the political realm and public space. The twenty-one articles by scholars from Europe and the United States explore the political function and cultural impact of images from the perspectives of Art History, American Studies, Visual Culture Studies, History, and Political Science. The contributions in particular address the complex interplay between agent and addressee in the public space as well as issues of national identity, discourses of inclusion and exclusion, and the designation of political spaces within transnational contexts. The publication is part of the interdisciplinary research initiative “Perceiving and Understanding: Functions, Perception Processes, Forms of Visualizations, Cultural Strategies of Pictures and Texts” at the University of Regensburg.

This volume features twenty original essays by experts in American memory studies from the U.S. and Europe, expanding discussions on U.S. cultures of memory, commemorative identity construction, and the politics of remembrance into the realm of transnational and comparative American studies. It addresses theoretical developments since the 1990s, including the pictorial and spatial turns, alongside multicultural and international perspectives on American history. The contributions examine the cultural productivity and political implications of both officially sanctioned memories and practices of oppositional remembrance. By analyzing sites of memory connected to the United States as crossroads of transnational and intercultural commemoration, the essays highlight their potentially controversial roles in cultural exchange and political negotiation across various spatial, temporal, and ideological contexts. The interdisciplinary topics covered range from literary texts and personal narratives to cultural performances spanning from colonial times to the present. Additionally, the significance of war monuments and ethnic memorials in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., films about 9/11, public sculptures, fine arts, and American world’s fairs as transnational memory sites are explored.

This volume brings together twenty original essays by scholars from the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. It focuses on the centrality of memory and commemoration to the formation, affirmation, and revision of American histories and identities over the course of more than two centuries. Individual studies engage theoretical issues and perspectives of American memory studies (Michael Kammen, Aleida Assmann), discuss literary texts that position themselves at the intersection of personal and cultural memories and countermemories (Klaus Benesch, Joseph C. Schöpp, François Pitavy, Ulfried Reichardt, Nicolas Witschi, Renate von Bardeleben), interpret theatrical performances and civic festivities as enactments of individual and collective remembering (Kurt Müller, Winfried Herget, Heike Bungert, Udo J. Hebel), explore the potential of films, folk songs, and public buildings as commemorative media and memorial spaces (Winfried Fluck, James Olney, John Seelye, William Boelhower), and address the political and cultural implications of literary anthologies, national archives, and virtual libraries (Werner Sollors, Caroline Sloat, Christopher Mulvey, Hanjo Berressem). The collection offers a seminal contribution to interdisciplinary scholarship on sites of memory in American literatures und cultures.