The Fiction of America
Performance and the Cultural Imaginary in Literature and Film
Distributed for Campus Verlag
- Contents
- Review Quotes

Acknowledgments
Prologue
The Fiction of America—America as Fiction
Act I
Setting the Stage—or, Performing ‘America’ on the Streets of Philadelphia
Act II
Will the Real American Please Stand Up! Americanness (Dis) Embodied
Scenario 1, A Fish Called Emerson: The American Scholar and “Finding Nemo”
Scenario 2, From Walden Pong to “Jurassic Park”: The Re(dis)covery of America
Scenario 3, S(w)inging the Self: Whitman, “Spider-Man,” and the Body Politic
Act III
American Idols: The Anatomy of Race and Gender
Scenario 1, The Shark Has Pretty Teeth: Straight White Masculinity and Ethnic Ventriloquism in “Moby-Dick” and “Jaws”
Scenario 2, Ghostly Femininity: Parody and Dissent in “The Scarlet Letter” and Madonna
Epilogue
The Specters of America
Bibliography
Index
You may purchase this title at these fine bookstores. Outside the USA, see our international sales information.