Transnationalism in American Studies                                                                             Prof. Milette Shamir 

MA seminar

  

“Since the rise of critical theory in the 1970s,” writes Paul Jay in Global Matters, “nothing has reshaped literary and cultural studies more than its embrace of transnationalism.” While this statement remains open to debate, there is no question that the so-called transnational turn in American studies is one of the most important paradigm shifts of the present generation of scholarship. Challenging some of the basic tenets of American studies (the stability and coherence of national borders, the exceptional history of the U.S., the unitary logic of American culture) and highlighting instead the global movement of peoples, commodities, and ideas, this “turn” has changed profoundly the way we do American Studies. The goal of this seminar will be to introduce to students—particularly students interested in pursuing research in American Studies--the main trends and methodologies of the new paradigm (e.g., border studies, hemispheric/inter-America studies, planetary studies) and its key concepts (e.g., cosmopolitanism, globalization, post-nationalism, empire, cultural transnationalism). The seminar will prompt students to consider such questions as: how does our interpretation of American culture change when we consider it in a local, continental, or global frame? Why is it important to do so? What work does American culture do outside the U.S.? How do non-American perspectives on the U.S. (such as that of students in Israel) contribute to American studies?

 

 

In the course of the semester, the seminar will host scholars who practice transnational American studies.

 

Primary readings will include works by Martin Delaney, John Rollin Ridge, Junot Diaz, Azar Nafisi, and others.

 

Assignments will include in-class presentations, short writing assignments, and a term paper.