The Pathos of Authenticity

American Passions of the Real

edited by Ulla Haselstein, MaryAnn Snyder-Korber and Andrew Gross

Book cover: The Pathos of Authenticity

Extent: 294 pages

Publisher: Universitätsverlag Winter

Subjects: American Studies, Communications, Film, & Media Studies

Series: American Studies - A Monograph Series

Series volume number: 182

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(January 2010)

ISBN: 9783825357061

5.28 x 8.27 inches

Price: $55.00

Out of stock

Throughout the last decade, observers of American culture have drawn attention to an emerging transformation: an apparent shift from postmodern irony and play to a revalorization of the real and authentic. This “turn” in cultural values has been linked to general conservative tendencies and the after-effects of September 11 as well as a lingering sense of crisis following post- Cold War triumphalism. ‘The Pathos of Authenticity’ investigates this new valorization of the authentic and tests the explanations offered for the various “returns of the real” detectible in the current moment. In close readings and case studies, contributions hone in on aspects of American contemporaneity particularly shaped by discourses of authenticity. Topics include the significance of things in a world constituted via media representations, the prominence of trauma theory, renewed interest in autobiography, the pathos of religious experience, and efforts to define ethnicity as a source of authentic feeling.

  • Edited by Andrew Gross
  • Edited by Ulla Haselstein
  • Edited by MaryAnn Snyder-Korber