Jews Without Money (Gold) - 1st week

The biography of Michael Gold I chose is:

"Masterpieces of Jewish American Literature" - Stanford V Sternlicht


http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iutOijQDzNUC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=Itzok+Granich+Biography&source=bl&ots=MSRHUvvgej&sig=0QzqXhsjJmgOfHD7DwPynIYciEY&hl=en&ei=1AWZS6KsA5aSjAfxxZH4Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false

5 facts about Gold that readers of “Jews without Money” should know:

1. His name was originally Itzok Isaac Granich. His gradual Americanization of his name growing up (and pen name of Michael Gold) reflects his having left his immigrant ethnicity (so prevalent in the story) behind. To get on, he has become more ‘American’ and English-speaking…something repeated in the story at least a couple of times

2. Gold didn’t make it implicit that the story was fiction. It is in fact semi-fiction – a fictional interpretation of his own background in the Lower East Side of NYC

3. Gold’s dislike of capitalism stemmed from this father’s failure to succeed and had to resort to being a handcart pedlar – although he had always worked so hard

4. Unlike some writers who flirted with Communism, Gold was a life long Communist. He had already been to the Soviet Union by the time he wrote JWM but was disillusioned by the country. His communism was more of the heart rather than cerebral adherence to theory. (This shows in his very heartfelt depictions of the conditions of the working poor in JWM).

5. While Gold may have known the seedier side of the Lower East Side himself, when writing this book, he was part of the Greenwich Village set, being friends with fellow writers like Dreiser and Eugene O’Neill (which may be reflected in his lack of moralising).

The chapter I find very interesting in relation to understanding American work attitudes is Chapter 2 “How babies are made.” The story of JWM catalogues many instances of poor immigrant types struggling to earn money, to live an “American Dream” of at least being comfortably off, but not succeeding despite all their hard work and effort. Chapter 2 highlights how some of what might be considered the dregs of the city – prostitutes, pimps, bar and gambling house owners, actually manage to earn a good living. What is put across is the ability to become ‘American’ to succeed. ‘Mikey’ is influenced by Harry the Pimp and Jake Wolfe the saloon keeper in the importance of English: “That is what I am always preaching to our Jews; become an American. Is it any wonder you must go on slaving in sweatshops?”

Characters understand capitalism and that morals of the old country can be put aside in the big American city: Ida the Madame ‘brags about the tenement houses she owned.’ Harry the Pimp is seen as a bit of a philanthropist, who teaches the girls he controls the value of thrift! ‘Rosie’ worked in a sweatshop until she became ill but on being rescued by a pimp, got on so well she could bring her parents over from Europe. The landlord Mr Zunzer ‘a pillar of the synagogue’ who appreciates in a truly capitalist way that the whores pay ‘3 times the rent you do’ (and promptly!) and was only too happy to fill his properties with them. All of these characters, no matter what their age, appear to have left the ways of the old country behind. They understand market forces and their niche in the market and the importance of becoming ‘American’ – or at least appearing to perform being one.

Robert Seguin

As I am late to post, I really couldnt find anything that wasn't sam or Jo's reviews but instead everywhere i looked i got the sort of "synopsis/review" from the publisher-

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Around-Quitting-Time/Robert-Seguin/e/9780822326755

I thought Seguins first chapter was as the others have previously said much about the idea of class in America or more so the lack of classlessness. He is comparing the idea of middle class in America in which is hard to define as it has become a mutual understanding for Americans, from low paid workers to the higher end, the majority feel middle class. So in some ways this works out well and does suggest a somewhat classless society. But what is happening in fact is that America considers itself classless and almost utopian as it does not follow the class system as Europe does.
It tries to deny class in its society by cutting off from the aristocratic European ways but in fact builds a class system through captialism. He talks about how middle classness is rooted in the mainstream of everyday life- capitalism and also has strong feelings about the link between capital and time. i.e. how capital does not exist withough human's time and labour. He calls America's class struggles "violent" and this is due to its sheer capitalised society.
One point which was unclear to me was the reference to the frontier and pastorialism as i couldnt figure out if he was being literal, meaning the sort of city vs the rural, or more like cooperation vs the small business but i guess both views are quite similar metaphorically.
In regards to Sister Carrie he is very interested in detailed descriptions of the cities visual elements, just like the book is and the idea of how the city becomes a different place at night, more alive and somewhat enchanted. This links to Seguins reference to labour and time, as he is saying that the night time is to be admired as it is when the worker can explore the night and the city. This is the Utopian element.

Seguin and Toil of the Laborer

The SIS II blog would not let me contribute a new post; I have commented on one of Jude's postings and I will post on here aswell.

The review of Around Quitting Time I have found is from http://www.amazon.com/Around-Quitting-Time-Middle-Class-Americanists/dp/0822326701. This site gives two reviews from academics, and is aimed at people who are possibly contemplating buying the book.

Seguin aims to look at the notion of Middle-classness in the united states, and juxtaposes this with the notion that America is a classless society; on page 2 he argues "the term "middle class" itself in effect becomes synoymous with "classlessness", an ideologico-practical inhabitance of the world wherein class has been putatively superseded, or at least temporarily suspended".

Seguin aims to outline that although America views itself as a largely classless society, most Americans describle themselves as middle-class, therefore showing how America is imagined as an ideological utopia by its residents.

The extract of Dreiser's Toil Of the Laborer counters this, showing how the working man is exploited, overworked and underpaid. He describes from his own experiences how manual labour is hard and boring and meagerly rewarded; the worker, he says, is treated like a machine and pushed to his physical limits. He also shows from the perspective of a foreman how the hierarchy is so powerful; although he wishes to ease the lives of the laborers in his promoted role, there are many constraints from above, showing how the world of work involves taking orders from superiors, and in Drieser's experience, is unfulfilling.

Seguin "Around Quitting Time"

The review of Seguin's book "Around Quitting Time: Work and Middle Class Fantasy in American Fiction" I have chosen is :

Review: Producing Middle Classlessness
* Amy L. Blair
* American Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Jun., 2002), pp. 341-348
* Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

on JSTOR. Sorry, I just couldn't seem to get the link to come up correctly!

(I personally found Seguin's ideas very difficult to understand but hopefully the I have got the general idea in the following summary!)

Robert Seguin is of the Marxist school of thought and seeks to correct a postmodern preoccupation with consumer culture whereby class and lifestyle are intertwined - you are defined by what you desire, therefore in a truly American way of thinking anyone can participate in class identity, making the U.S. a classless society (in theory, at least!) Seguin sees that there are differences which are not purely material. Middle classness rather than classlessness. People are identified by the question, "What do you do?" To understand middle class functions Seguin cites 'quitting time' as the crux of this, a shifting and variable state between working and not working as work prepares to end and leisure prepares to start. (Seguin also quotes Andre Gorz who identifies modern leisure with being solitary, compared historically to it being a group activity). While he says that class is at heart about economics, he also says it is about time and this shifting time at that part of the day is one which could be possibly understood in future as important in a non-alienated relationship to labour.

Seguin explains that Dreiser positions Carrie's arrival in Chicago (a big American city at the start of rabid consumerism)at 'quitting time' shows American middle classness with a synthesis of frontier ideology of forward movement and dynamism and pastoralism, citing the text where the street lamps stretch out further and further to the prairie, which can also be read in reverse. Seguin suggests that the twilight time which Carrie arrives at of finishing work is interpenetrated with the approach of leisure - it is a moving, interconnectedness of all these things; what Seguin says of Dreiser as a 'utopian breathlessness' moment.

In "The Toil of the Labourer" Dreiser explains how hard work is artless and thoughtless. It is hard graft with a taskmaster foreman and paltry wages with no humanity, and even when he is made foreman himself he has a problem with equating his ideals with getting the job done or losing it. However, when the work is completed he could see 'that this lovely thing might be' - that all the trials and tribulations of hard graft made something beautiful. As he finishes work in the end, he exhibits that 'utopian breathlessness' at all the incredible sights of the city around but knows the labourers will not get to share it. Ultimately seeing the contrast of this, watching the Italian workers trudge wearily home, he decides he does not want to be a part of it. Both "Sister Carrie" and Dreiser's own labouring experience reflect the time where there is a certain excitement at the end of the day in this transitional period, but of a time when consumerism was coming to the fore but working roles, although changing, were clearly delineated.

Dick Cheney on American Exceptionalism

.... and I believe this to be a fair representation of the belief of the American mainstream.

Nihilism - Extra for presentation

(If this Youtube vid works...!)
Is this black nihilism?

Rich's Presentation

For my FYP presentation i will be looking at the journal article by Teresa A. Goddu called Vampire Gothic taken from The American Literary History 1999. ( I emailed the article to everyone, also anyone that took the gothic module last year might be familiar with it.)

The general theme of the journal extract is relevant to my fyp in many ways and is one of the main critical sources i am looking at. Goddu looks at 3 main critical texts in the article and examines each of their views on vampire and mainly gothic fiction as a whole.

Within the critical sources the article looks at how the authors percieve representations of various American anxieties in gothic fiction ranging from 19th century England to contemporary America (keeping in mind it was published in 1999 so just before 21st century) And creates an argument for representations of tourism, gender, sexuality, race, disease, religion and tries to form some sort of idea of what is really meant for the term "otherness" within the gothic fiction. These are pretty much all of the themes i am looking into in my own fyp so this article does provide a good basis on the sort of things i should be examining and how to treat them. It is also interesting to see how other critics view the adaption of the Gothic as time progresses which is another key point i am focusing on in my fyp.

Goddu is good at examining the other critics and showing whether she agrees or disagrees with what they are saying. But she also gives her own critical view of the gothic which is how the article finishes.

When looking at the article some questions to think about could be:

From what you know about contemporary gothic, do you think that the focus is on gender and sexuality and therefore misses out on the subtext of race and class?

Do you think the gothic demonizes or stereotypes racial identities, specifically African American?

Would you agree that the gothic is a travelling form and therefore monsters become culturally or regionally specific?

FYP Presentation - 'Nihilism in Black America'

My FYP is based on the concept of while the radical may fire the cause, have Civil Rights ever achieved anything substantial without pandering to white mainstream America, and have racial politics been replaced by culture and class which still does this. My presentation article - hardcopy of which may be found in pigeonholes tomorrow morning - is centered on the first chapter of Cornel West's bestselling book Race Matters - the chapter 'Nihilism in Black America.' To provide a little background of the author for those who are not familiar with him, Cornel West is a black American academic, writer and theologian, who over the years has worked at Ivy League colleges like Harvard and he was Director of Afro-American Studies and Professor of Religion at Princeton.

West's book, as a whole, has been very useful to my FYP in assessing where black Americans are situated in the post Civil Rights era and the possible lack of iconic black leaders. This chapter addresses what he saw as a nihilistic threat to black America caused, as he saw it, by a lack of effective black leadership and the endemic market forces/moralities of American capitalism and solutions to this perceived threat.

While acknowledging that this was written 15 years ago and being able to look back on these views, please think on the following questions :

• Do you feel the nihilism West wrote about is/was as threatening as he claimed to black
  American society?

• West: 'Only recently has this nihilistic threat - and its ugly inhumane outlook and actions - surfaced in the larger American society. And its appearance surely reveals one of the many instances of cultural decay in a declining empire.' (My italics) Do you agree with the italicised words?

• Do you feel that this nihilism, as West describes, is specifically related to black Americans, or could it be related to all poverty-stricken Americans, whatever their ethnicity?
  

Cherie's Presentation - Thursday 17th December 2009

My FYP examines the extent to which the ideology of American ‘exceptionalism’ is contested by American writers. I have chosen to do so via a textural analysis of samples of Theodore Dreiser’s work - focusing on the decades between the two World Wars (approximately 1918-1938) and, especially, via key texts such as Dreiser’s novel An American Tragedy (1925).

The origin, and definitions, of American ‘exceptionalist’ ideology are much debated – as is the extent to which this multi-dimensional term is considered more a myth than a reality. The complexity of the debate is such that I have chosen to focus on one aspect of ‘exceptionalism’ for my presentation: social mobility.

In 2004, economics academic Joseph P. Ferrie published the following research paper:

‘The End of American Exceptionalism: Occupational and Geographic Mobility in the U.S., 1850-2000’, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper Series, October 2004,
http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~fe2r/papers/Exceptionalism.pdf

Professor Ferrie’s research is of specific interest as it focuses on comparisons of social mobility which span a significant epoch of American history (1850-2000). This epoch includes the period of Dreiser’s life (1871-1945) and, specifically, the era in which he was most active as a writer (1900-1940). Dreiser’s left-wing sympathies, and realistic portrayals of American society, categorise him as both radical and as a pioneer of the ‘naturalist’ literary genre. His advocacy of biological and social determinism, fatalism and ‘happenstance’, are strong themes in his texts. His observations of America as a society strictly divided by boundaries determined by a financially stratified, class hierarchy – the outcome of the politics and economics of capitalism - is a direct contestation of the egalitarian, class-free, socially mobile society which forms part of the American ‘exceptionalist’ debate. Ironically, when viewed against Ferrie’s conclusions, Dreiser’s contestation reveals more about America’s then future than her past.

Three questions to consider:

1) Are the data samples (of both US internal comparisons and US versus UK international comparisons), on which Ferrie’s conclusions are based, problematic? If so, how and why?

2) Is pro/anti-exceptionalist bias evident in the paper?

3) Ferrie comments that his findings suggest that ‘something fundamental changed in the U.S. economy after 1900-1920..... and no later than 1950/56....’ but he omits speculation or analysis thereof. What factors would you consider most likely to be responsible for this ‘fundamental’ change?

Presentation Questions

Hi

Sorry, I forgot to put the questions I would like you to ponder:-

1. How far has suburbanisation helped to create fear in society?
2. Do the remarks concerning the fear of the labourers expressed in the interview with Felicia (p54) show an inherrent snobbery and elitism in American society?
3. Overall, Are gated communities beneficial to society as a whole?

Thanks!

Wk 10 Presentation

The source I have chosen to use is Peter and Will Brooker's article Pulpmodernism: Tarantino's Affirmative Action, taken from Pulping Fictions: Consuming Culture across the Literature/Media Divide.
The keyword I have selected is Kaplan's Identity Pp.123-127.

Brooker and Brooker's article covers both the positive and explores negative views of Tarantino's work. It is a solid base for examining his work and trying to grasp an understanding of postmodernity when exploring notions of identity with relation to the characters.

Kaplan mentions W.E.B. Du Bois's 'double conciousness' which is important when looking at the dualities of Tarantinos characters and their changing attitudes throughout the narratives, though the non-linear aspect of Tarantino's allows for multiple angles for interchangable stories. Kaplans notion of 'Identity Politics' is interesting considering the postmodern aspect of my focus with characters playing roles they see as required.

Questions to consider regarding this presentation could be; how are the identities of Tarantino's characters potentially postmodern? What is the difference between a gangster and someone playing a gangster? And how/why do dualities and double conciousness define or alter characters identities?

Week 10 Presentation

Sorry for the lateness of this post, I had some trouble finding a suitable article as Amazon are being slow in delivering the numerous books I have on order. However, I managed to find a suitable article on JSTOR which I ask you all to take a few moments to familliarise yourselves with prior to my presentation. The article is entitled The Edge and the Center: Gated Communities and the Discourse of Urban Fear by Setha M Lowe (2001). The article looks at gated communities and how a culture of fear has enabled such dwellings to become prominent in the American suburbs. Lowe outlines that Urban studies have traditionally focussed on the study of the city centre, and less on suburbia, an area which she intends to investigate. She uses primary research, in the form of the interviews with residents of gated communities, to attempt to answer questions on urban fear and reasons for moving to such residences. This article is relevant to my project as I intend to look at gated communities in the suburbs not only as an expression of fear of "otherness", but also as an expression of indiviualistic lifestyles chosen by many American citizens, and ingrained upon their mindests, think Jefferson, second ammendment etc..
I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, and hopefully giving you all some insight into Gated Communities.

Keyword Articles

The two keywords I have chosen are "African" by Kevin Gaines and "Culture" by George Yudice. Although there were various keywords that I could have chosen, I felt these two were probably at the heart of my FYP which addresses how much race leaders have had to accommodate within the white mainstream culture in America and, since there appear to be no memorable race leaders now, whether class and culture are more important than political activism.

The African chapter helps to conceptualize the relationship of African Americans to Africa itself, not just in terms of the slave trade, but in the historical and on-going complex relationship. I found a comment by Frazier particularly interesting that 'the traumas of enslavement and the rigors of urbanization' have all but extinguished the tie to Africa. Since the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X believed in ties with the African brotherhood and Booker T Washington and Martin Luther King Jr were more ingratiating to the American culture, this could be useful in assessing attitudes, particularly as the former two were from the more urban north.

The culture chapter is also vitally important since it is the culture of America that freed slaves and now modern day African Americans have to work within. Reading this chapter gives an idea of how wide the word 'culture' can be and historically how it has been defined through anthropological and social analysis into the political, with arguments as to how valuable anything that is not the dominant culture is.

Keywords Presentation

'Exceptionalism' (Donald E. Pease) and 'Capitalism' (David F. Ruccio) are two keywords which are fundamental to my FYP. As both are open to wide interpretation, I will use this exercise to clarify their definitions relative to both my FYP subject (Theodore Dreiser, exceptionalist ideology) and its social and historic context (early twentieth century).

The essay on 'Exceptionalism' was a revelation. I wish I had read this around the end of Year 1, Semester 1 as Pease provides a history of, and an explanation for, the adoption of the exceptionalist myth within U.S. society. The 'who' (politicians and academics), 'when' (twentieth century) and 'why' (bi-polarity of world power US/USSR) is very illuminating relative to my hypothesis (which confronts the apparent lack of contestation of exceptionalism in American literature).

Pease's essay reveals how the ideology of exceptionalism may be linked to the critiques of capitalism (communist/capitalist USSR/US binaries) which pre-dated the adoption of the ideology per se. Dreiser's An American Tragedy (my primary text) was published in 1925 - researched and written over the preceding decade - and based on a 1906 murder case. It is strongly critical of the American Dream, capitalism and associated ideas of egalitarianism and a 'class-free' society. Dreiser was a committed socialist and, later, communist sympathiser, so the relationships between exceptionalism, capitalism (in opposition to communism/USSR) and world events/American interests and foreign policy, in his epoch, are key to understanding the nature of his contestation of an ideology which post-dated much of that epoch.

Pease's essay also reveals how (and why) American Studies as a discipline has been complicit in creating the exceptionalist myth. According to Pease, for much of the twentieth century, exceptionalism has been the primary paradigm upon which academics have based their research. Again, Pease explains this in terms of political/ideological opposition to the USSR. Since the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that paradigm has evolved from exceptionalist, through non-exceptionalist, to a post-exceptionalist position. These are concepts that underpin American Studies as a discipline so are important for all reseachers to understand.

The penny has now dropped re: our discussions on the contested definition of 'America'. I now begin to see the impact of globalisation on our discipline and how geographic boundaries are reductionist when studying culture/society post-modernity. This requires a dramatic intellectual shift away from the USA as a geographic locus of study in favour of trans-national, cultural/social 'themes' within which the USA is just one node of a network. Think 'Black Atlantic' as an example for those who took that module.

I am now considering the impact of this 'eureka' moment on my FYP but starting to view American self-representation of exceptionalism as rooted in a reactive ideology (to perceived threats from global events) rather than as a product of an inherent sense of national superiority. That the latter superceded the former appears to be the result of world events in the latter part of the 20th century - a mythology that is now widely contested within a new world order.

Keywords.......

A brief description of my FYP is how vampire, gothic and monster fiction in movies and tv are a representation of american anxieties and fears and how the fiction evolves with the changes in american society.

The Two Keywords I Looked at were

Citizenship (Lauren Berlant)

the article looks at how citizenship is percieved in America today and how it creates groups and segregation in society. especially when it looks at the issues between being a citizen and being a non-citizen. I chose this in relation to my topic because it talks about white anxieties about race, and disease and it is all about America's fear of the alien or unknown. These are the kind of issues that i am looking at in my fyp and how they are represented by vampire and gothic movies and television today.

African (Kevin Gaines)

This article is pretty self explained by the title and it deals with what the perception of "african" is in the USA. This relates to my article again because it is all about african americans feeling outside the system in america and feeling out of place. It deals with issues such as the pessimism the usa has about the word african and how it realtes to poverty, famine and disease. Again issues that i am looking at within my FYP in regards to how they are portrayed in gothic fiction.

Keywords Presentation

The second keyword I will look at is Modern, by Chandan Reddy (pp160-164). This term informs my FYP as both the terms "modern" and "post-modern" can be used when examining the American city. The essay looks at the implications of the word "modern" from a variety of different disciplines such as sociology, history and geography, and can be used when looking at the changing landscape of the American city, and the ways in which both modernity and post modernity have helped develop cities in America.

Keywords

The three Keywords I have chosen for my presentation are; Identity, Gender, and Capitalism.
I have chosen these three as they relate most directly to my FYP out of those on offer.
The basis of my FYP is postmodernism in Tarantino's films, looking at the reasoning behind the portrayal of characters in my chosen field. Identity, gender, and capitalism through consumerism are important towards the characters self definition.

Identity - Carla Kaplan Pp. 123-127.
Kaplan's article coincides helpfully with an essay in Pulping Fictions called 'Pulpmodernism'. Kaplan talks of "Warring social identities" in her keywords, which follows Brooker and Brooker's 'Pulpmodernism' talking about the "need for and fragility of fixed identities and relationships".

Gender - Judith Halberstam Pp. 116-120.
The portrayal of gender in my FYP is crucial to looking at why the characters behave like they do. Halberstam discusses John Money and his invention of the term, "to describe the social enactment of sex roles; he used the term to formalize the distinction between bodily sex (male and female) and social roles (masculinity and femininity), and to note the frequent discontinuities between sex and role. This helps as a basis for gender definition when looking at the concept of gender portrayal in postmodernist theory.

Capitalism - David F. Ruccio Pp. 32-36.
Capitalism and consumerism plays a part in Trantinos films, especially Pulp Fiction with his invention of 'Red Apple' cigarettes and 'Jack Rabbit Slims' with the posters of Roger Corman films on the walls. This is important when looking at the postmodern aspect of his films, Umberto Eco's characterisation of the concept of cult films, "Cinema comes from the cinema", the cycle of consumer culture throughout the cinema.

Keywords Presentation

The first keyword that I will look at in my presentation is "City" by Michaela di Leonardo. It breifly describes the history of the American city and discusses they ways in which the concept of the city has been portrayed in historical writings. This essay informs my FYP as it looks at one of the key themes of my dissertation - the city.

My FYP is an American Studies FYP because.....

My choice of FYP sets it solely in the realm of an American Studies dissertation. I have chosen to write it on American crime fiction movies, centered around Quentin Tarantino and his emergence into the business with the potential creation of a new genre 'Ironic Crime Comedy'. I'm going to examine the portrayal of gender and masculinity in America as portrayed in these types of films. I am looking to extend this, to study in depth whether it is simply textual reality and masculinity or a portrayal of existing cultural issues. This leads into an argument of postmodernism looking at Kill Bill and fantasy versions of femeninity. My FYP is is quite focussed so doesn't span a wide range of past modules but does cover a few areas of the course previously studied. American Culture plays a large part in my study, looking at consumerist culture (Red Apple ciggarettes) and the distorted version of the American Dream portrayed in many crime films, most notably having roots in gangster films (Scarface) with immigrants finding their own dream. America is a nation of multiple cultures and that comes accross in these types of films, not only with multi-racial characters but also the cinematography can be seen as having roots outside the U.S., Tarantino uses some definitively European styles in his work. This mix to create something new is a large part of the mosaic that is American Cuture.

My FYP is an American Studies project because......

......it is sited within the nexus of disciplines which enables the study of the United States of America as a nation state by examining the history, politics, sociology and culture of the ideology of American exceptionalism from the perspective of American literature.

The concept of the United States as an 'exceptional' nation is an historic assumption which is deeply rooted within American ideology and has been transmitted globally by means of American economic and technological hegemony since the late nineteenth century. Although both reinforced, and challenged, by national and international representatives of many disciplines for much of the nation's history, there appears to be a dearth of literary contestation by American-born writers of fiction. My project is therefore based on the hypothesis: 'American literary expression is constrained by an ethos of national exceptionalism'.

In order to test the hypothesis I have chosen to examine the works of a writer who represents the social group which has dominated the United States politically, socially and culturally throughout its history (white, born-Christian and male). My hypothesis assumes that although a representative of the group which has been instrumental in the creation of the myth - and therefore has most investment in it - would be the least likely to contest it, such a writer would also be most enabled (by means of their educational, economic and social advantages) to do so given sufficient motivation. My project assumes that radicalism provides sufficient motive and I will therefore focus on one of the most radical writers of his generation (early twentieth century) - Theodore Dreiser.

I will focus on specific works published during a specific period (probably 1917-1940) of upheaval in American history in order to evaluate the impact of time, major events (First World War, Depression), and the changing social/political/economic climate, on expressions of exceptionalism (and contestation of it) within both his fiction and non-fiction. The study will evaluate whether exceptionalism as a national ideology imposes artistic constraints on writers which are exposed within their non-fiction and/or by records of their personal views - or whether the exceptionalist myth is so instrumental as an agent of American identity and culture as to appear self-evident for even the most radical of American writers.

I will not examine the origins, and oft-cited sources, of the exceptionist myth in detail but, in order to ensure the specificity of the context as wholly American, will make reference to such writers as Winthrop, de Crevecoeur, Jefferson, de Tocqueville, Frederick Jackson Turner, Theodore Roosevelt and Dickens - and situate Dreiser's writings within the context of American historic political and economic events . The major materials examined will be specific Dreiser novels (e.g. American Tragedy), other writings - especially political (e.g. Hey Rub-A-Dub-Dub!), critical works (on Dreiser) and Dresier's personal correspondence, in order to evaluate the degree to which he accepted/contested the ideology of exceptionalism , and which factors (if any) constrained/liberated him as an agent of literary contestation.

My FYP is an American Studies FYP because....

My FYP is an American Studies FYP because it concerns a subject unique to the United States, namely that of Civil Rights, from the end of slavery to contemporary issues facing Black Americans at the turn of the twenty first century. The question at the heart of this I wish to look at is how have the various theories of how rights/equality being achieved have fared and whether more radical elements have had to (and still have to?) adhere to American white culture to achieve their aims.

A definition by the British Association for American Studies (BAAS) of American Studies explains it "explores the United States through its history, diverse cultures and global rule." My subject draws from the historical, social, political and cultural aspects of America, in particular with an evaluation of the racial/cultural attitudes that existed and perhaps still exist within the nation. My FYP will hopefully address what is 'peculiar' about the United States that has made Civil Rights and African American issues a much debated subject academically both 'at home' and abroad. My study will endeavor to demonstrate whether Black Americans still have to negotiate with the dominant mainstream white culture; for the duality of being African American or Black American whether there is a real chance of obtaining an American Dream or whether to quote Malcolm X is it an "American Nightmare" instead. Autobiography and biography of such people as W E B Du Bois, Booker T Washington and Malcolm X will be assessed for their specific accommodationist/nationalist/separatist views and critical evaluation of these and how their thoughts stand with modern Black Americans; for more contemporary views modern critiques will be looked at from a variety of sources to assess how inclusive they feel in American society today. My FYP therefore shows it is specifically lodged within 'American Studies' and has an interdisciplinary nature.

Key Questions for American Studies projects

It would be helpful if you bear these in mind generally, and in particular when you're speaking to your blogs in Session 2:

'In what ways is my project interdisciplinary?'


'How will I demonstrate the specificity of my topic in its particular place and time, without reproducing the assumption that America is a unique, exceptional nation?'

By 'how', you might want to focus on the approaches, focus, argument, coverage, etc.

My FYP is an American Studies FYP because....

My FYP is entitled "The changing landscape of the contemporary American city". It aims to look at the effect urban sprawl has had upon cities not only in the American West, but also at areas such as New Jersey, which have become filled with "edge cities" or commuter towns to New York city. The project will look at the societal effects of urban sprawl; issues such as gated communities and the lessening sense of community found in exurban america which leads to an anomic society will be adressed, but this will be contrasted against small town America to question whether or not American society has deteriorated due to urban sprawl.
The project will also look at the environmental implications of urban sprawl; pollution from motor vehicles and a homogenous landscape are two key issues.
The FYP is is an American Studies FYP because it examines this phenomenon in the United States. Although this is not to say that Urban Sprawl is a uniquely American phenomenon, it has manifested itself upon the American landscape more so than in other nations due to the relaxed planning restrictions imposed by the US federal government and the profiteering nature of the American people.

Keyword 'Defining America'

Gruesz begins by examining what areas come under the title 'America', thus highlighting the difficulty in defining it. If the term 'America' is in contestation in a geographical sense, then placing a meaning upon it as a national identity becomes increasingly difficult. As Gruesz continues, looking at the history of the name 'America', it appears to become evident that it is an unresolveable argument. As she states, "The continuing life of this debate suggests that what is really at stake is not some ultimate etymological truth but a narrative of shared origins." Greusz looks at how America went from defining itself as settlers with names like "New-England, Nieuw-Amsterdam, Nueva Espana", to a unified nation when, as she puts it, America becomes synonymous with USA. Greusz goes on to look at issues of defining America as a country and an identity from Buffon (1789) to Radway (1998/2002). Gruesz section mentioning 'Americas' studies, shows the plurality of the name, and also her final notes on NAFTA add scope to the examination of the scale of what the geographical term 'America' means.

My FYP Is and American Studies FYP....

My Fyp looks at how vampires and the gothic in American Film and TV represent societies fears and anxieties. The reason this is an American Studies FYP is because i will be looking at The USA's fascination with Vampire texts and how they are representations of American Society in particular. This is mainly because i am looking at contemporary texts as the primary sources for the fyp which are all American produced Films and Television Shows. This does relate to what we discussed in the last session though as we have an understanding in American Studies that we have to study all of the input that goes into america to make it up e.g the different races and cultures that make up America. This relates to my FYP as there is so much input from older texts and European texts which many of the American adaptations are based on. The existing debates that surround my topic are the relationships between vampire fiction and how it represents themes of race, gender, sexuality, disease, religion and the fear of the "other" and as we know these are some of the key issues in American Society and have always been.

Definitions of "America"

Gruesz discusses the term "America" and looks at the many etymological meanings of the word in an attempt to gage a better understanding of the true meaning of the term. She looks at the ambiguities surrounding the origins of the term and discusses how how whilst America was once understood as stretching from "Yukon to Patagonia", it has now become more synonomous with referring to the USA. She also looks at the other ways in which "America" has gained different meanings over time, for example, she uses Edmundo O'Gorman's argument that "America was invented before it was discovered", an idea that Europeans had long imagined a new world before it was inhabited. She also looks at America as a land of "Historylessness", again showing how the term is understood to mean a "New" land.

She concludes by discussing NAFTA, and argues that whilst nowadays "America" is widely understood to be the USA, NAFTA offers a way of uniting all of the American continent through trade, thus showing how "America" can still be used to describe the distance from Latin America to Canada. However, the fact that America is used to describe the USA shows how America is a global hegemon, and the most powerful and dominant within the continent.

Keyword America

Gruesz suggests that the words 'America' or 'American' are very ambiguous. One cannot tie America down to territory since it may include the greater Americas rather than the United States. Terms and notions such as 'Freedom, Liberty and Democracy' are equally vague as are consumerism and cultural practices.

Perhaps America is a shared ideology; to be an American is to be the common man and yet share a feeling of exceptionalism. In such a vast and differing nation made up of so many races there is an implication of homogenisation and consolidation, not supposedly one of difference; America may celebrate the individual but he must conform to a certain extent to being Americanised and subscribe to the myths of American history and culture.

Defining 'America'

Although Gruesz makes reference to the contested definition of the keyword 'America' in populist terms such as geography and origin, the focus of her essay emphasises the importance of the contextural in understanding the usage of keywords in the field of American Studies. The context is multi-faceted and may be a product of time, author, audience and scope (the when, why, and by whom, of usage). Gruesz uses examples to illustrate the importance of understanding these elements in both transmission and reception of words - in this case 'America'.

Her reference to Walt Whitman is one such example (she's an authentic source on him). His use of the term 'America' is described relative to his ideology ('the heterogeneous mixing of immigrants into a "race of races"') and his political views ('expansionist'), and also his era and biography - nineteenth century United States native in this case. Against that context, our understanding (reception) of Whitman's 'America' would differ from his understanding (transmission). Likewise the term 'Americanisation' appears 'self evident' to some in its contemporary definition - a populist term for global cultural homogenisation by the United States. However, a century ago it would have been equally 'self-evident' that the term referred to the process of cultural assimilation under which immigrants became 'Americans'.

Her essay emphasises the requirement to challenge our understanding of the usage of 'America' whilst also suggesting the scope of a contemporary definition - a scope which invokes an explicit pluralism. Dare I suggest that given Ms Gruesz Hispanic ancestry (and areas of academic interest) this may illustrate her particular position on the debate of 'America' as 'a narrative of shared origins' in which she stakes her specific group's 'claim' to 'primacy and symbolic..... ancestry of the Americas'.

Keyword America

I think that i generally understood what Gruesz was saying in realtion to the term America in this article. The general overview is about defining America in terms of its terretories and citezenship and how it has become difficult to define over the years. The main point is how it has evolved from "America" once meaning both the North And South American Continents, to just meaning the United States. And even when defining the United States the understanding is a bit blurry as their are so many defintions of which she mentions for the terrotories and citezens of the USA. She makes the point of how America, the idea of a new world of freedom was already invented by the Europeans before the land was discovered. Therefore the fact that it was founded on an idea it did not naturally develop through ancestory. I couldnt really make out any other points Gruesz was trying to make when defining America but she sort of finishes by saying that one day the new term "Americas" (meaning the two continents) will recieve just as much scrutiny and criticsm as "America" gets today as the world evolves.

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