Introduction

The following volume is the result of three student-based conferences on topics of English and American Studies held at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin between 2002-2005. The presenters have been masters or doctoral students respectively. One key concern of the Students Conferences has been to offer students a true academic environment while still undertaking their studies, adding a vital component of academic practice to their academic work. Furthermore, over time the conferences succeeded in bringing together students and academics from Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USA.

From the onset, the thematic focus lay on a wide understanding of cultural texts, encompassing literature, film, television, music, visual and performing arts on an equal level. Whatever the concrete thematic framework on the conference, be it horror and fantasy (2002), multiculturalism (2003), poetics (2004) or American visual culture (2005), the overall academic interest had been the following: How is the cultural text constructed that influencing our understanding of the United States of America, and what are its components and characteristics? How is America thus depicted in the vast tapestry of cultural artifices?

As no such discussion can ever be complete, we have focused in this volume on select issues which we hope to represent a useful range of topics for the understanding of contemporary US-American culture.

Part one of this volume, Picturing Trauma, starts with a contemplation of ways to depict the loss of September 11th. Eddie Bruce-Jones analyzes two photographs dealing with the aftermath of the event. Anthony Enns discusses the use of photographs to remember the dead and provides a history of spirit photography. Manuela Mangold explores the depiction of bodily and psychological fragmentation on television shows such as Nip/Tuck and CSI.

Part two, Picturing "Reality", begins with Michael Lattek's analysis of The Big Lebowski as a Western, tracing its background both in film history as in coping with the trauma of the Viet Nam war. Chris Flor provides a Lacanian reading of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, revealing the elements of psychotic narration underlying the series.

In part three, Picturing Politics, Antje Dallmann submits a comparison between three versions of The Manchurian Candidate - the novel and two subsequent films, disclosing different political perspectives and gender stereotypes contained therein. Florian Stenschke investigates aspects and consequences of U.S. media in a globalizing world. Philipp Kneis discusses the portrayal of politics and political institutions in American television, exemplified by the series The West Wing and Commander in Chief.

Part four, Picturing Identity, contains an analysis of the effects of the Mexican-American border by Alexandra von Barsewisch, who offers a comparison between two films dedicated to the topic, one American, Traffic and a Mexican, The Garden of Eden. In her analysis of Spike Lee's film Bamboozled, Heike Toewe investigates the function of the audience shown in the film, and implications for the depiction and discussion of race in American culture. The volume concludes with an inquiry by Benjamin Letzler into the importance of food in Jewish-American literature.

Thanks and Acknowledgements

The editors would like to express our gratitude to all contributors who have made this publication possible. We thank the publishing house Peter Lang for their supporting this volume from the beginning. Furthermore, the students behind the organization of the conferences would like to thank the American Studies Program at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for their continuing trust and encouragement.

Conferences in the Series so far

Utopian Thoughts. Trans-Atlantic Fictions of Science and Politics
7th Annual Students Conference
April 26-28, 2007

Native Cultures in the 21st Century. USA, Canada, Mexico
6th Annual Students Conference
May 3-6, 2006

Picturing America. Domestic and Global Aspects of US Media Culture
5th Annual Students Conference
May 19-21, 2005

Poietic Spaces. Communicating Landscapes of Imagination
4th Annual Students Conference
May 6-8, 2004

Multiple Cultures - Multiple Perspectives. Questions of Identity and Urbanity in a Transnational Context
3rd Annual Students Conference
May 15-17, 2003

Haunted Dreams. Nightmares in American Culture
2nd Annual Students Conference
May 23-25, 2002

Licence to Thrill. Reading James Bond as a Cultural Phenomenon
1st Annual Students Conference
May 10-12, 2001