A study of the American imaginary in Transnational America

The Imaginary and Its Worlds collects essays that boldly rethink the imaginary as a key concept for cultural criticism. Addressing both the emergence and the reproduction of the social, the imaginary is ideally suited to chart the consequences of the transnational turn in American studies. Leading scholars in the field from the United States and Europe address the literary, social, and political dimensions of the imaginary, providing a methodological and theoretical groundwork for American studies scholarship in the transnational era and opening new arenas for conceptualizing formations of imaginary belonging and subjectivity. This important state-of-the-field collection will appeal to a broad constituency of humanists working to overcome methodological nationalism.

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Endorsements:

“If one wished to move beyond the ‘transnational turn,’ or indeed, ‘turns’ in general, and commit to a broader and more fluid inquiry into how American literature might be read as explorations of an unsettled and unsettling global space, one could wish for no better guide than these top-notch essays by some of today’s most eminent critics. A highly useful introduction orients the reader well, and the pieces that follow confirm the importance of this topic.” —David Palumbo-Liu, author of The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a Global Age—David Palumbo-Liu, author of The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a Global Age