It is not enough that theory finds its practice,
practice must find its theory
WALTER
BENJAMIN
These pages provide a modest guide to web resources related to theories and methods in the field of American Studies. Twelve theoretical perspectives have been selected to illustrate specific ideas. This is not a definitive list of theories. For a more comprehensive approach see the THEORY AND METHOD page on the Washington State University site. For another overview in diagrammatic form see a TIMELINE of major critical theories in the United States compiled by Warren Hedges, English Department, Southern Oregon University. Also see TERMS for a glossary of theoretical concepts from the same site. The twelve theories explored on the UMB-American Studies web site can be found on the following pages:
1. MYTH
AND SYMBOL SCHOOL
2. MULTICULTURAL/ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVES
3. POSTCOLONIAL/INTERNATIONALIST
PERSPECTIVES
4. CRITICAL
THEORY
5. SEMIOTICS
6. POPULAR
CULTURE STUDIES
7. FEMINIST
THEORY
8. MEDIA
STUDIES
9. POST-MODERN
CULTURE STUDIES
10. QUEER
THEORY
11. CYBERCULTURE
STUDIES
12. ANTI-TECHNOLOGY
PERSPECTIVES
THEORY
George Caleb Bingham, Stump
Speaking, 1854
In America, where the privileges of birth never existed and where
riches confer no peculiar rights on their possessors, men unacquainted
with one another are very ready to frequent the same places and find neither
peril nor advantage in the free interchange of their thoughts.
Alexis
DeTocqueville, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
Each theory has a COMPREHENSIVE
LINK–this is usually a metasite with many
links to sites associated with the theory. Major theorists
associated with each theory have been selected, along with quotations,
illustrations and hypertext links to specific ideas and works (including,
in some cases, whole books and articles available on-line). These
theorists and theories have been chosen in terms of variety, as well as
for their reflection of divisions and controversies among thinkers and
critics working within the overall theoretical perspective.
PRACTICE
Is it possible that the nature of cultural studies and cultural
criticism (what many would argue is the current state of American Studies)
has outgrown the print book form as a medium of communication?
Could cultural history and cultural criticism be better served either in
electronic environments or in combination print and electronic environments?
Randy
Bass, "The Garden in the Machine: the Impact of American Studies on
New Technologies"
See also the extensive course resources of Catherine Lavender, director of American Studies, College of Staten Island, CUNY
Each of the twelve theoretical perspectives has a PRACTICE section listing various links leading to applications of the theory to appropriate American Studies topics. An attempt has been made to draw upon more imaginative applications, particularly those fully employing the interactive capabilities of multi-media technology.
Jennie
Holzer
The philosophers have only
interpreted the world in various ways, the point is to change it.
Karl
Marx
