Romanian Journal of English Studies 4/2007
Romanian Journal of English Studies 4/2007 Editura Universităţii de Vest Timişoara, 2007 EDITOR Luminiţa Frenţiu Assistant editors Eliza Filimon Aba-Carina Pârlog ADVISORY BOARD HORTENSIA PÂRLOG, University of Timişoara PIA BRÎNZEU, University of Timişoara CARMELLO CUNCHILLOS JAIME, University de La Rioja MIHAELA IRIMIA ARGHELESCU, University of Bucureşti MIRCEA MIHĂIEŞ, University of Timişoara ISABELLE SCHWARTZ-GASTINE, University of Caen DAVID SNELLING, University of Trieste CHRISTO STAMENOV, University of Sofia MIHAI ZDRENGHEA, University of Cluj-Napoca STUART ELFORD, University of Timişoara Cover Design: Liliana Mercioiu © Romanian Journal of English Studies, no.4, 2007 ISSN 1584-3734 This journal is sponsored by: Universitatea de Vest Timişoara, Office of Public Affairs, US Embassy Bucharest CONTENTS I CULTURAL STUDIES BLACKS IN THE AMERICAN NATION? TESTIMONIES OF 19th-CENTURY GENRE PAINTINGS IREN E. ANNUS University of Szeged 1. Introduction Postmodern theorists, including Benedict Anderson (1991), Werner Sollors (1989), Terry Pickett (1996), and Julia Kristeva (1991), regard modern nations as ideologically framed, artificial constructions. Many scholars, such as Louis Althusser (1971), Pierre Bourdieu (1977), Michel Foucault (1980) and Stuart Hall (1996), position culture as central to the process of nation formation. As the United States is a young country that represents so-called official (Kellas, 1991: 52), religious-ideological (Eisenstadt, 2002: 56) or geo- political (Smith, 1995: 135) nationhood, a nation that developed not out of an ethnic group – which was often the claim presented in Europe – but of a group’s geographical unity and political/ideological identification, it may prove an exciting example for the study of nationhood and its construction. Nation construction is an ongoing process with significant elements tied to particular historical moments.
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