Discussion about article : Franco-American Stereotypes

Dear members,

We are taking a small break from reading thick books and will discuss a 50 page article written by our member, friend and history professor William Chew, aka Bill

“‘Literature, History, and the Social Sciences?’ An Historical-Imagological Approach to Franco-American Stereotypes.” National Stereotypes in Perspective: Americans in France--Frenchmen in America. (Ed.) William L. Chew III. Rodopi Press: Amsterdam, Protected content Imagologica Protected content

When Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda revved up their Harley-Davidsons in the cult-classic Easy Rider and set out to “find America,” their task seemed to be a relatively simple one.

They, at least, were experiencing America first-hand. Not so the majority of Europeans who, from discovery through the 20th centuries, derived their images of America from second or third-hand sources, in the process creating a potent national stereotype, essentially consisting of an integration of inter-textual and inter-media discourse.
In this way, travelers’ accounts, pictorial representations, immigrant letters, literature in the classic sense of the term, advertising, newspaper articles, exhibitions, art, theater, music and cinema–to name some of the most prominent source categories–all contributed to the genesis of what Europeans consider to be “America” and “the American.”

Want to find out more ?

Just email me at Protected content and I will send you the pdf of the article so you can read it by December 5th