Register
If you haven’t already, register to start contributing news and events, and to search the Member Directory. Registration is free, but only open to current members of the American Studies Association.
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
By University | By Year
Tucker, Richard. "Brushstroke: Commerical Icon and Cultural Image," American Studies, George Washington University, April 2001.
This dissertation illustrates the way visual imagery is appropriated across cultures and art worlds as it explores the connotations of the brushstroke, a visual image which has recently proliferated in contemporary commercial contexts. It describes the historical process by which the brushstroke accrued its varied connotations, emphasizing the development of oil painting, the expansion of art markets, the emergence of avant-gardes, the growth of a formalist aesthetic, and the appropriative practices concomitant with artistic Orientalism. Over one hundred examples of brushwork in cultural products both elite and popular are discussed in light of commentary from artists, critics, art historians and graphic design professionals. It concludes that the confluence of the artistic traditions of Western oil painting and Eastern brush painting/calligraphy in Abstract Expressionism facilitated the emergence of the freestanding brushstroke as an emic unit and an icon available for exploitation as an advertising image. It further asserts that the accelerated appropriation of such historically complex imagery to commercial contexts is contributing to contemporary psycho/social disorientation.
Quick Links
American Quarterly [official journal site]
American Quarterly [editorial site]