American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture

Now in its fifth edition, American Cultural Studies continues to offer a critical introduction to key concepts, topics and methods in the study of United States culture, exploring subjects that include the city, ethnicity and immigration, religion, youth, and gender and sexuality.

The fifth edition has been comprehensively revised to take account of developments in American culture during the past decade. Arguments are supported by close readings of cultural materials that range from novels to paintings, films to political speeches and TV shows to regional cuisines. Updated case studies introduce each chapter, with examples including Moonlight, The Great Gatsby and the songs and videos of Lady Gaga. This book also offers a new chapter on class; extended discussion of gender and sexuality, including masculinities and trans culture; and increased coverage of sports in American culture, including baseball, wrestling and American football. To further engage contemporary readers, this edition provides up-to-date further reading suggestions for each chapter and considers the place of American cultural studies in the current moment.

Of particular interest to undergraduate readers, this book is panoramic in its coverage of the field and is a core text for studying American culture.

Instructor and student resources for this book include an interactive timeline of cultural and historical events, additional discussion questions and activities for each topic, and suggestions for further reading and online resources for each chapter.

Neil Campbell is Professor in American Studies at the University of Derby, UK. His recent publications include Post-Westerns (2013), The Rhizomatic West: Representing the American West in a Transnational, Global, Media Age (2008), The Cultures of the American New West (2000) and The Radiant Hour: Versions of Youth in American Culture (2000).

Alasdair Kean is a lecturer in American Studies at the University of Derby, UK.

Andrew Dix is Senior Lecturer in American Studies, Loughborough University, UK. He is the author of American Studies and Beginning Film Studies and, with Peter Templeton, the editor of Violence from Slavery to #BlackLivesMatter: African American History and Representation.

Peter Templeton is Associate Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Open University, UK. His research interests include the culture of the US South, and he is the author of The Politics of Southern Pastoral Literature, 1785-1885: Jeffersonian Afterlives and Clerks: ’Over the Counter’ Culture and Youth Cinema.