American Studies: Then and Now

Holmes, Lauren Pearl; Hussain, Heena

Abstract

The seminar considered American Studies’ long understanding that histories and historiographies of American society and culture represent an attempt to impose an ordered narrative on its national origin story. In recasting its history to create and perpetuate a national origin story based on notions of exceptionalism, American literature is likewise reflective of an exceptional and providential origin myth. The seminar began with a paper by Lauren Pearl Holmes which considered intellectual cultures in Colonial New England’s preaching community, a revised version of her paper which was presented at the “Preachers, Hearers, Readers, and Scribes” conference at Harvard Divinity School and the Congregational Library, Cambridge and Boston, MA, 03-05 October 2024. The seminar concluded with a paper by Heena Hussain which addressed Disney’s global dominance, popularity and influence through Moana and Encanto and the use of native bodies in embodying American ideals and imperial agendas and resolving current social anxieties. Both papers sought to contribute to scholarly efforts to deconstruct the pervasive and harmful assumptions of America’s origin story and how that story has evolved from the Colonial to Contemporary periods. The seminar took a fresh look at the manuscript, print, and film evidence which has contributed to the construction of exceptionalist narratives of identity, assimilation, and belonging in American society and culture, placing a particular emphasis on the experiences of and representations of women.

Citation

Holmes, L. P., & Hussain, H. (2024, December). American Studies: Then and Now

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Start Date: Dec 4, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 4, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 13, 2024
• Related Public URLs: https://hub.salford.ac.uk/amc-english-literature-language-and-creative-practice/2024/12/13/english-research-seminar-report-lauren-pearl-holmes-salford-and-heena-hussain-manchester/