Cultures of United States Imperialism (New Americanists)

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Summary: Foundational essays for a new school of thought
Review: The only other reviewer (to date) has made a fair point about the density of the essays collected here and the relative obscurity of some of the subject matter. But he/she has missed the larger point of this whole volume by dwelling on the perceived shortcomings of a single article. Until recently, scholars of American Studies, literature, and history have largely ignored the role of imperialism in the development of American culture. Since the early 1990s, some scholars have attempted to set this right by paying more attention to issues like immigration, race and gender identity, travel, and American empire (Philippines, Cuba, Panama, etc.).

This collection of essays brings together some of the finest scholars who have worked in this area during the past decade: Amy Kaplan, Donald Pease, Walter Benn Michaels, John Carlos Rowe, Kenneth Warren, and many more. Their work is certainly of the academic variety, and it can be frustrating to readers who are searching for clear-cut, black-or-white arguments. But as a self-described democracy with a protracted history of slavery, institutionalized racism and sexism, and shady imperialist ventures, U.S. culture defies simple, straightforward answers. The writers of these essays understand this difficulty and theorize accordingly. Anyone seeking to understand a fairly recent but very significant development in American Studies, history and literature would be highly advised to puruse this volume. It will continue to play a major role in each of those disciplines for at least the next decade.

Still, I acknowledge the other reviewer's frustration and want to point out this is definitely NOT light reading. And some of the essays are far more intellectually rigorous than others. However, if you start with Kaplan's excellent introduction, you should get a sense of what the collective goal of these scholars is, and you can get a handle on what each of them writes -- even if a particular essay isn't very stimulating.

Rating:
Summary: It's Great, If You Like That Sort of Thing.
Review: This is, as one can guess by the title, an academic book. Obviously it is; it is difficult to say, even after reading it, what exactly it means. Does it refer to "cultures" created by U.S. Imperialism? Or perhaps to "cultures" created within the U.S. by imperialism? The predictable answer would be "both," an answer that seems to be given by the structure of the book itself, which not only includes essays on the impact of U.S. imperialism on other nations but also essays on the impact of imperialism "on-shore," so to speak. One such essay is by a professor named Bill Brown, who writes on, apparently, the relationship between the Panama Canal and artificial limbs in "The Prosthetics of Empire." This, to a non-academic, might sound surprising, but it is if anything rather banal these days. But what is really interesting about Brown's essay is that, while he seems to be well-within the crypto-Marxian, post-everything critical theory mish-mash of what passes for academic thought these days, he has actually, in a somewhat weird way, entirely transcended those boundaries. How, you might ask? Well, the answer seems to be that Brown has taken the bold step of not merely just making assertions, as critical theory types are wont to do, but he has even dispensed with that old-fashioned technique of the bourgeois class, and written an essay that does not just merely gesticulate at argumentation but has left argumentation behind entirely. What I mean is, Brown doesn't just say that there is a connection between artificial limbs and the Panama Canal and be done with it; instead he just proceeds as if there was a connection. This, you might say, is a stunning achievement, and one has to praise not just Brown, but also his editors for their courage in publishing it. Of course, not all of the essays in this volume are this "edgy," but don't be surprised next year when you find used bookstores awash with it. By then, of course, the work of Brown and his compatriots will have been denounced as just another victims of cooptation by the "hegemonic state."