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American Studies

Introduction

American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field, with research base in the United States. Traditionally, American studies includes the study of history, literature and critical theory, but also in areas as diverse as law, art, media, film, religion, science, Urban Studies, women's studies, anthropology, sociology, African-American Studies , Chicano studies, Asian American studies, Native studies, foreign policy and culture of other regions of the United States (Harold & Hobby, p. 125-132). Civilization can also refer to the United States, and its culture and people. After World War II and the Cold War, the U.S. government to promote research in the United States in several European countries, to help find chairs in universities and research institutes in American history, politics and literature in the interest of cultural diplomacy (Louis, p. 375-382). Many researchers and authorities in Europe have also recognized the need to study in the United States court has become particularly important in Britain and Germany. British Association for American Studies was established in 1955 and is an integral part of the European Association for American Studies (Lawrence, p.23-35).

Question 1: we have noted that the meaning of America is also represented in cultural expressions, and many aural, visual, and literary endeavors are both artistic and political. In what ways did cultural representations of the United States change between 1865 and 1940 in terms of art and politics? What were the major social messages embedded in these expressions and what are some examples of works that sought to challenge the status quo?

In 1890 the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Copyright Act, granting copyright protection for a period of fourteen years to American authors or their publishers. This act was an explicit effort to establish a national literature (Thomas, p. 82-94). Congress, however, did not anticipate the rise of the American novel. Indeed, at the start of the nineteenth century, fiction was held in contempt by the country's cultural and political elite. Nevertheless, between 1789 and 1820, ninety works of fiction by American authors were issued by U.S. publishers. In most cases, the authors had sold the rights to their works to printers who not only manufactured the books, but also performed the tasks of publishers and marketers (Lawrence, p.23-35).

Prior to 1920, the American arts industry was intensely localized and small-scale. Northeastern printer-publishers from the revolutionary period typically printed five hundred to fifteen hundred copies of a novel; few publishers risked producing more than one work of fiction in their entire career. Inadequacies in the transportation system and the availability of cheaper British publications limited sales of American fiction. But while the hundreds of British fiction titles outsold American works, they also helped to foster an American market for fiction (Thomas, p. 82-94). In 1891, Congress passed an International Copyright Act that protected American authors abroad and stopped the flood of cheap English reprints onto the U.S. market.

Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) was one of the first American novelists to try to make a profession out ...