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Events
Jan. 9 | Call for papers: Identities and Technocultures
A 2-day conference about American culture and technologies that examines how new technologies dominate and define Americaness in the US and abroad. Co-sponsored by the University of Iowa Center for Ethnic Studies and the Arts (CESA) and the Mid-America American Studies Association (MAASA).
Resources: Abstracts of American Studies Dissertations
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Urish, Benjamin K. "America Through its Comedians: Comedy and Culture on Film," American Culture Studies Program, Bowling Green State University, January 1994.
Key aspects of American culture can be analyzed and clarified by studying the comic personae of popular film comedians. The cultural functioning of humor in general and comedians in particular demonstrate cultural discourse, a culture speaking to itself, constantly remaking meaning through social interactions. Cultures have predispositions which contribute to ongoing discourses on issues which are of core concern to the culture system. Primarily investigated is the metadiscourse of cultural cohesion and social integration. It is demonstrated that through filmed comedy, American culture temporarily comes to terms with some of its most permeating characteristics as it constantly reinvents itself.
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