Transnational America Review – Outlines of Modern American Culture
Transnational America: Contours of Modern American Culture is an editorial book that includes 13 essays by different people plus a fully illustrated one called Photo Essay at Work, edited by Russell Duncan and Clara Juncker. Museum Tusculaneum Press has published it in 276-page paperback under ISBN 8772899581 in 2004 in Copenhagen.
The contributors to this one-volume editorial are experts in various disciplines, primarily English literature and American studies.
The work was categorized into 5 main categories: 1- Visions and Reviews 2- Secrets and Lies 3- Photo Essay 4- New People 5- New Places, each subcategorized into a few essays.
This book is pro-American in structure and tries to present the United States as a crosscutting pattern and even an archetype that all other nations and states should follow from their nation-state pattern. Many countries consciously or unconsciously persecute it, and its taste and smell can be felt in the rest of the world. that’s why it’s called transnational america.
In fact, the editors believe in an alliteration of Trans in all things American, as described in the editors’ introduction:
“A transatlantic journey can discover a new continent or start a new life, and a transcontinental exploration can give rise to Manifest Destiny. Pioneers can cross borders to build a nation. To transmigrate is to travel across a country on the way to a rest more permanent”. The slaves are transported; immigrants make transitions; people transform. Transactions are necessary for the acquisition of property. Translators mediate between languages. Hopes are conveyed; communities are transplanted; nations are transfigured. Media producers transcribe programs for broadcast. for international offices.”
It can be said -in fact- that the book tries to normalize the concept of transnaturalization.
“The editors commissioned articles that explain the contours of the ‘glocal’ (global and local) and ‘intermestic’ (international and domestic) trends involved in transnational America.” The language of the work is not too complicated but to some degree sophisticated, the editors try to free their minds by coining new words using the combination method which can be a sign and a metaphor of the interdisciplinary approach of the book per se.
“They address the complex issues of globalization, American mythology, Christian proselytizing, modern slavery, conspiracy theory, apocalyptic terrorism, Vietnam stories, international feminism, changing gender roles, the resurgence of regionalism. , Hillary Clinton, Muhammad Ali, Latinos and the changing definitions of place, whether in Hungary, Nigeria, Estonia, the southern United States or Canadian cities, just as the word enters the United States, so the United States enters the world. , free of territorial borders and experiencing ambivalent reactions of acceptance and resistance”.
It’s really hard to label it unique, but it’s certainly a great job for those who are new to Americaology and Globalizationology. Popular culture is smelled in the whole; Examples, similes, and metaphors from different Hollywood movies give the work a subtly abstract and interactive feel.
however, it has a unique part, and it is the photographic essay. 14 stunning photos that can represent 14 essays from the play. A well trained eye can obviously find a lot and more in each one; ‘Naturalization’, ‘McDonaldization’, American Surrealization, Presidential Exceptionalization American Puzzle, Fallicist Feminization, Americanization of Black-Islam, Economic Novelization, Mexico-America Hybridization, Amerinizedization, non-American assimilation; They are probable conceptualized nominations that I dare to put to them, and of course all coined by me except in quotes. I really recommend to everyone who is interested in the book and does not have time for the full reading, even if they skip the rest, to live a quarter with this photo essay that has an encyclopedic essence.
As stated in the American Understanding book, several notions and concepts must be taken into account; ‘nationalism’, ‘racism’, ‘masculinity’, ‘Christianity’, ‘globalisation’, ‘immigration’, ‘classical democratic roots’, ‘militarism’, ‘technology’, ‘banners’, ‘youth’, ‘future’ , ‘progress’ and ‘border’ are topics that are reviewed in this paper, thus paving the way for American understanding. But some other points are neglected in this work, if they are also treated as elements of modern American culture; Hip Hop music, same-sex marriage, Stew’s new concept as successor to Melting Pot, Volunteerism, Democratization of the World and preemptive rights. Yet he illuminates new horizons by looking at America from the inside, even outside of it.