(Pop) cultures on the move

This collection examines how the signifier 'America' functions as an intermediary in the production of transnational identities and analyzes how different forms of cultural exchange between 'East' and 'West' are constituted in literary and cultural texts. In particular, the essays investigate the transnational flow of cultural texts, analyzing how, by whom, and to what purposes and effects (pop)cultural practices have been appropriated and transferred to local contexts and how the significance of place, especially the category of the national, has changed in the process. Analyzing various spaces of cultural transmission, the articles focus on patterns of movement and the flows of culture in order to approximate the question of whether the dialogue with 'America' in the 21st century still plays a vital role in the production of 'European' identities. What specific role does the flexibility and adaptability of the signifier 'American' play in this intermediary function of American culture? This book therefore gauges the potential and the limits of 'American' culture as a third term that can 'other' both national and European traditions (for identification or dis-identification) and can serve to reconstruct and to transgress national cultural identities.